I Tink I Wuv You, Daymin
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: What happens when an anti-aging spell of Bonnie's goes horribly wrong, leaving Elena as a three year old? What happens when Bonnie leaves her with Damon to find the counter curse? Adorable Delena goodness, that's what happens! Rated T for language.
1. Bon Bon and Daymin

Elena sighed heavily as she knocked on Bonnie's door; the pair was going to try a few different spells today, so Bonnie could practice. Elena wouldn't admit it, but she was nervous. She wasn't sure she wanted Bonnie doing magic on her, even if she was her best friend. She trusted her with her life, but still… she was nervous.

Bonnie opened the door and smiled, "Good, you're here! I found this amazing spell last night while I was looking through the beauty section of Emily Bennett's grimoire… you remember how I told you that witches could prolong the aging process?"

Elena nodded as she walked into the house and Bonnie shut the door behind her, "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I found this minor version. It will make you look the same age for four years instead of one. It takes four years to age just one!"

Elena raised an eyebrow as she headed into Bonnie's kitchen with Bonnie on her tail, "Really? Well, that explains how Bree was still… sorta pretty. Do you have any soda?"

"In the fridge. Who was Bree, again?"

"She owned that bar Damon took me too in Georgia."

Elena opened the fridge and grabbed a can of coke, opening it and following Bonnie into the living room, where her grimoire sat open on the floor, surrounded by already lit candles."

"I've been practicing the spell a little bit on Muffin," Bonnie said, referring to her dad's Jack Russell Terrier.

Elena nodded as they both sat down by the grimoire, "You want to try it on me now, I'm assuming."

Bonnie looked hopeful, "It would be great practice, Elena…"

Elena sighed and sat her can of soda aside, "Alright; I trust you."

Bonnie beamed, "Perfect! Wait here, I'll be right back…"

She jumped up and headed upstairs, leaving Elena to ponder her thoughts. If this spell worked, she wouldn't age for four years at a time. That would mean that she wouldn't need to turn for a few more years, just to look the same age as Stefan and Damon. Maybe this spell was a better idea than she had thought. Bonnie ran back down the stairs with something in her hand, which appeared to be incense sticks. Elena frowned, "What are those for?"

"They're to cleanse your mind while I do the spell… something could go wrong if you over think it."

She lit the incense and put it in a bowl, before sitting cross-legged before the grimoire. "Give me your hands," she instructed, and Elena sat across from her, taking both of Bonnie's hands. "Now, close your eyes and try not to think about anything other than youth, alright?"

Elena nodded, her eyelids sliding shut. As soon as she did so, Bonnie began to mutter the spell in Latin, "Anus aetate benedicite mihi virtute."

Elena's lids fluttered a bit; youth. Think about youth. Of course, the first thing that popped into her mind when thinking of youth was her childhood. Back when she had parents, and life was so easy…

"Magam iuvenis, facere me saeculum."

Elena was remembering a particular trip to the lake house when she had been four. She had learned how to swim with her father's help. It was while she was thinking this that she began to feel her body changing. Power seemed to be pulsing in her veins, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Was it normal to begin to feel… small?

"Magam iuvenis, auxilium me eam iuvenes ... Elena? Why do your hands feel… small?"

"Where is me?"

Bonnie's eyes snapped open and the candles flickered out as she gasped, "Oh, my God! Oh, no, what did I do wrong…?"

Bonnie frantically scanned through the spell to see if she had made a mistake; she hadn't. Then why was there a tiny version of Elena looking up at her, with even bigger doe eyes than ever, and thin, straight brown hair? She was looking around, pulling her tiny hands out of Bonnie's bigger ones. She looked afraid, "Who you…?"

"Elena, it's me… it's Bonnie."

Elena squeaked, "How does you know my name?"

Bonnie bit her lip, "We're… we're friends, Elena. I'm… I'm babysitting you."

"Where Mommy and Daddy at?"

Bonnie's shoulders sagged; she didn't remember anything. Well, of course she didn't! She was… how old, exactly? "How old are you, Elena?"

"I twee." She said.

Three. Of course she was… "Elena, do you want to go in the car?"

Elena perked up, "Yes!"

"Good," Bonnie reached over and picked up the baby Elena, walking quickly for the door. She grabbed an old car seat out of the garage and strapped Elena in, getting in the front and quickly pulling onto the road. Elena was sucking her thumb in the back seat, and she craned her neck to look at Bonnie, "Bon Bon?" she asked, and Bonnie looked in the rearview mirror at her, "What?"

"Where we goin' to?"

Bonnie sighed, "We're going to see Damon."

"Who dat?"

"He's your friend, too."

"I no friends with somebody named Day-min."

Bonnie couldn't help grinned, "Oh, but you are, Elena… very good friends."

"Oh," Elena said, sticking her thumb back in her mouth and looking out the window.

Bonnie pulled into the Salvatore driveway, pleased to see that it appeared Damon was there alone. That way she would only need to explain herself to one person. Not to mention, this one person was going to be hard enough to convince as it is.

She shut off the car and got out, walking to the back seat and opening the door, helping Elena out. Elena grabbed onto Bonnie's finger with her tiny hand and followed her up the stairs to the front door. Elena looked up at the door in awe, "Dat a big door."

"Yeah; it's a big house, too."

Bonnie knocked on the door loudly. When Damon didn't answer, she yelled, "Damon! We have an Elena situation!"

The door flew open instantly at the mention of Elena's name, "What," Damon said frantically, "What's wrong?"

Elena hid behind Bonnie at the sight of the tall man before her, and she peaked around Bonnie's leg nervously.

"Elena," Bonnie said calmly, bending down, "This is Damon."

Elena looked up at him with her big doe-eyes, and Damon's blue eyes narrowed in confusion, "Bonnie, what are you talking about? Who's the kid?"

"The kid," Bonnie said, picking her up so that Elena was at eye level with him, "Is Elena."

"No, she's…" Damon started, but trailed off when Elena's eye lids fluttered, drawing attention to the big brown eyes he would know anywhere, "Oh, my God… Bonnie, what did you _do?_"

"I don't know what went wrong; we were testing an anti-aging spell, and I did everything right… but this happened. Somehow, she's three years old again and doesn't remember anything."

Damon stared at the tiny Elena, who was smiling at him shyly, "You verwy pwetty," she said quietly, giggling and then hiding her face in Bonnie's neck. A small grin tugged at Damon's lips as he looked at the bashful little girl in Bonnie's arms, "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I was hoping you could take her; you know, so I can find something to break the spell with."

Damon's eyes widened in shock, "Bonnie, I can't…!"

"Why not?" Bonnie moaned in exasperation.

"I don't know the first thing about kids, let alone kids who are really eighteen! What am I supposed to do with her?"

"She's three, Damon," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes, "She isn't hard to entertain."

Elena was peaking at him again from behind her long, thin brown hair, and Damon sighed; he couldn't resist those eyes. "Hey, cutie," he said, tucking her wispy hair behind her tiny ear and touching her nose. Elena giggled. "My name is E-way-na. Who you?"

He chuckled, "I'm Damon."

Elena's eyes widened and she turned her head to look at Bonnie, "Dat Day-min?"

Bonnie nodded and Elena's cheeks turned pink, "He verwy, verwy, _verwy _pwetty."

Bonnie glanced at Damon, "Well, she seems to like you. Come on, Damon; it's just for a few days until I can figure out how to turn her back."

Damon sighed, "Fine… I guess I can take her."

Bonnie grinned and held the little girl out to him. He took her from her, and Elena looked shocked to be being held by the "verwy, verwy, _verwy _pwetty" man. "What goin' on?" she asked, turning her head back to Bonnie, "What you doing, Bon Bon?"

"You're going to stay here, with Damon for a few days, okay?" Bonnie asked.

Elena turned her big brown eyes up to Damon, and he smiled at her. Elena giggled and looked down, "Otay…"

"Great. Thanks, Damon!" Bonnie called, running to her car and driving off before he could change his mind.

Damon turned and walked back into the house, setting Elena down once he shut the door. She ran over to the window, he legs slightly wobbly, "Where Bon Bon go?" she asked quietly, her lip wobbling. Damon sighed and walked over, kneeling beside her. "Bon Bon," he said, raising an eyebrow at the name choice, "Went to… read a really big book."

"I no read," Elena mumbled with her fingers in her mouth, shaking her head. Damon chuckled, "That's okay; you'll learn."

He stood up and started for the living room, and Elena followed closely on his tail. "Day-min?" she said when he paused at the book case, and she pulled at the hem of his black button down the get his attention.

He looked down at her and she blushed, "I hun-gy."

He raised an eyebrow, "You're _hungry?_"

She nodded, "Verwy hun-gy."

Damon sighed, "Well, what do you want?"

"Uh…" Elena said, rocking back and forth on her feet, "Does you have any Cheer-wy-os?"

Damon grinned, "I don't think so."

"Does you have peanut butter?"

"Nope," Damon shook his head.

She pouted, but then her eyes lit up a bit deviously, "Does you have any chotolate pudding?"

Damon thought; now that she mentioned it, he seemed to remember Ric bringing some over a few weeks ago; apparently, when he got wasted, he got hungry, and chocolate pudding was his favorite.

"Sure do!" Damon grinned, and Elena beamed, "Yaaaaaaaaaay!"

Damon laughed; usually, he despised kids. He wasn't sure if it was just because it was Elena, but he found this child in particular extremely adorable. "Come on, princess," he said, picking her up again, "Let's go get you some chotolate pudding."

Elena giggled as they started for the kitchen, "Day-min?"

He grinned, "Yes?"

She snuggled into his neck, "I wike you."

He laughed, "I wike you, too."


	2. Chase Me Daymin!

Leaving a three year old alone with chocolate pudding… not Damon's brightest moment. Of course, he had brought Elena into the kitchen and sat her up in one of the chairs at the ill-used table and snagging one of Alaric's pudding cups, opening it and giving it to her with a spoon. He had then said he would be right back, and dashed upstairs to his bedroom to change. He was wearing one of his personal favorite John Varvatos button downs, and he had spent too much money on it to have it ruined while he… babysat Elena. No matter how many times he thought about it, it still seemed extremely odd. Shaking his head, he took off the shirt and opened his shirt drawer, deciding on one of his older white button downs with a thin black stripe along the shoulders. All in all, he had only taken five minutes to change and get back down to the kitchen.

"Gah," he gasped in shock when he saw Elena. She giggled from her seat, and Damon moaned; not only was Elena covered head to toe in chocolate pudding, but so was the kitchen. How the hell could one three year old little girl make such a mess in only five minutes? "Elena…" he complained, walking over to the sink and grabbing a washcloth, wetting it and walking back over to crouch beside her chair, gently wiping away the mess on her face. She smiled as he cleaned her up, but her smile quickly disappeared when Damon didn't return it. Her lip started to wobble, "Is you mad at me, Day-min?"

He sighed, wiping the pudding off her tiny little hands, "No, I'm not mad. It was my fault…"

She looked confused, "But I maked the mess. It no your fault, Day-min."

He grinned and leaned over to give her a little, reassuring kiss on her forehead, "Don't worry about it, alright? I'll clean everything up."

She giggled when he kissed her, "Otay."

Damon then proceeded to wipe down the pudding coated kitchen while Elena watching him with her big, brown eyes. She smiled when he finished and walked over, picking her up. She noticed he was wearing a different shirt, and smiled when she touched the white fabric, "Day-min no wear his bwack shirt?"

"Nope," Damon said as he walked into the living room and sat on the couch with her in his lap.

She giggled, "I likes dis one better."

He raised an eyebrow, "You do?"

She nodded and snuggled closer to him, "It soft."

He laughed and ran his fingers through her soft hair, "Well, I'm glad you like it."

Elena suddenly looked up and began to bounce up and down in his lap excitedly, "Day-min want to pway a game with me?"

He smiled, "What game?"

"I likes pwaying chase me."

"How do you play?"

"It pwetty easy; I wun awound, and you have to chase me!"

"Oh, I don't know; I'm pretty fast."

"I tink I is fasterer."

Damon laughed; if only she knew… "Okay, if you really want me to chase you…"

"Yay!" Elena giggled, squirming off his lap and onto the floor, waiting while he stood up. She giggled like crazy one he was on his feet, taking off around the living room. She squealed in excitement when Damon took off after her, using normal human speed to make Elena think she really was "fasterer" than he was. She ran around the living room in circles a few times before taking off in the other direction and heading for the stairs. She began to crawl up them and Damon rounded the corner, "I don't think so!" he said with a grin, swooping down and picking her up, twirling her in a circle before he began tickling her tummy. Elena squealed and giggled, "Uh oh! You catched me!"

Damon laughed and kissed her cheek, causing Elena to giggle again, "You is too fast for me, Day-min."

Damon chuckled, "Oh, I don't know about that; you're pretty fast Elena. It was just those darn stairs…"

"Yeah… it was da darn stairs…"

He laughed and began to carry her around the house, bouncing her lightly as he walked. After about twenty minutes her eyelids began to droop, and soon she was fast asleep with her head snuggled into his shirt. Damon smiled and brushed her hair out of her eyes, carrying her back into the living room and placing her on the couch, grabbing a blanket and tucking it gently around her. Elena snuggled into the blanket, giving an adorable little baby sigh as she slept. Damon smiled as he sat beside her, stroking her hair fondly. His eyes widened when he cell phone rang, and he quickly answered it in fear of it waking Elena. "Hello?" he whispered into the phone.

"Damon! Finally, _someone _answered me! Bonnie and Elena are supposed to be hanging out or something, but neither of them will answer my calls…"

Damon sighed; Caroline. "Yeah, about that," he said as he watched Elena sleep. "They ran into a bit of a… snag while Bonnie was doing a spell."

"A snag?" Caroline asked in confusion, "What do you mean…?"

"Well, as we speak, I'm watching a three year old version of Elena take a nap on my couch."

"_You… are… what?_"

"An anti-aging spell of Bonnie's went wrong, and Elena ended up… well, like this. Bonnie left her with me while she searches for a counter curse."

"Do you need any help? Hang on, I'll be right over…"

Damon stroked Elena's cheek fondly and she smiled in her sleep. Damon grinned, "Actually, Caroline… I think I'm fine on my own. You should go see if Bonnie needs any help."

"Are you sure? Three year olds are a hand full…"

"I know; I'm taking care of it. Just go help Bonnie."

Caroline sighed, "If you say so…"

She hung up, and Damon hung up, too, pocketing his cell phone. He smiled at Elena's tiny, sleeping form, pulling her into his lap instead, where she snuggled into his arms. He chuckled at her instinct to move closer to him and bent down, kissing her hair; he had a feeling he was going to enjoy spending time with baby Elena.


	3. It Was an Accident, Daymin

Of course, Damon should have known that letting her sleep for hours was an extremely bad idea. It had literally been a "power nap", because as soon as she woke up she was bouncing off the walls. The sugar in the pudding probably played a decent part in it, too.

Elena was running around Damon in circles and he actually thought he was getting dizzy. Could vampires even get dizzy? He shook his head and whipped out his cell phone, wincing when Elena squealed and darted away from him, back into the living room and out of sight. Damon swore under his breath as he dialed Caroline's number. She answered on the third ring, "Having toddler troubles, Daddy Damon?"

He rolled his eyes, "Why didn't you warn me that letting her sleep was a bad idea?"

"You didn't ask. Why, what's she doing?"

"She-will-not-stop!" Damon roared into the phone, wincing again when he heard Elena squeal in the other room.

"So take her somewhere where she can burn off some energy," Caroline answered simply, and Damon frowned, "Where the hell am I supposed to take an eighteen year old three year old?"

"Damon, you may be a total moron when it comes to kids, but surely even you know the answer to that question; the park, duh!"

"The park?" Damon asked in disbelief, grimacing at the idea of hundreds of other screaming little brats ambushing him. Suddenly, Damon began to wonder if this had been Bonnie's plan all along, as a method of torture for him.

"Yes, the park! There isn't a kid alive who doesn't like going to the park."

Damon heaved a sigh; she was right. "You're sure it's a good idea?" Damon asked tentatively.

"Absolutely. Remember; if you really need help, Auntie Caroline is only a phone call away!"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Gee, thanks," and hung up the phone. He frowned as soon as he did; it was silent. What happened to Hurricane Elena?

"Elena?" he called, pocketing his cellphone and running into the living room; she was no where in sight. He began to get panicky; sure, she had to be somewhere in the house, but it was a _big _house, with lots of breakable stuff, small objects… and stairs.

"Elena!" Damon roared, terrified, and ran for the stairs; she wasn't there. "Damn it! Elena, where are you?"

He ran at vampiric speed through the house in search of her, and finally found her hiding in a dark corner on the first floor. She looked afraid of him when he appeared, and he couldn't understand why, "There you are! Why are you hiding?"

She looked nervous, "I… I has an accident."

Damon frowned in confusion, "What do you mean? Did you break something?"

She shook her head, "No… _I has an accident._"

Horror slowly began to sink onto Damon's features as be began to understand, "No. No, no, no; you _didn't…_"

Tears filled her eyes and she started to cry loudly when she realized he was upset with her, "I is sorwy! I knows I supposed to use da potty, but I couldn't f-f-find it…!"

Damon stood up and backed away from her, unsure of what to do. When he did this she cried louder, "Day-min no be mad a m-m-m-meeee…! E-way-na is sorwy…!" she started to sob loudly and Damon, once again, called Caroline. "Help me!" he shouted before she could even greet him.

Caroline could obviously hear Elena crying in the background, "What happened? Is she okay…?"

"_She had an accident! What the hell am I supposed to do…?_"

He heard Caroline laughing, "An _accident? _Meaning she…?"

"Yes! Now shut up, stop laughing and _tell me what the hell to do!_"

Caroline reined in her laughter, still giggling, "Get her to show you where it happened; I'll be right there."

Damon hung up and walked over to the sobbing little girl, who cried harder when he crouched down beside her, "D-D-Day-min, I is s-s-s-sorwy…!"

He sighed, "Will you show me where it happened?"

Slowly she nodded and stood up, wobbling forward, stilling sniffling and crying. Damon followed her, and felt horror begin to seep into his stomach when she began to lead him in the direction of a certain staircase. His worst fears were confirmed when she stopped, "Wight der."

Making a very pitiful, horrified noise, Damon fell to his knees.

For Elena hadn't just had an accident. _She had peed on his $2500 antique Persian rug, that he guarded with his life. _He just sat there, gaping in disbelief at the stain. Of all the rugs she could pee on, she chose that one. _The one freaking item in the house that he cared about…! _

Elena nervously moved over to him. "Day-min? Is you okay? Day-min…?"

Elena squeaked and jumped when she heard the door open, and she ran to hide in the dark corner under the stairs. Damon continued to stare in disbelief at the stain.

"Never fear, Auntie Caroline is here…! What's your problem?"

Caroline had just walked in with her arms full of shopping bags, and looked at Damon in confusion, "Damon?"

"She… peed on my rug."

Caroline frowned, even more confused, "What's the big deal…?"

"She _peed _on my _rug!_"

Caroline began to wonder if parenting had really driven Damon mad. It was just a rug; he looked like he had just witnessed his first born child die before him. "Damon, it's just a rug!"

His head whipped around to glare at her, his eyes wild, "Just a rug? _Just a rug?_" Damon stood up, laughing hysterically driven to madness, "Do you have $2500 lying around, Barbie? Huh? Do you? Oh! Or do you know any authentic Persian rug antique stores? No? _I DIDN'T THINK SO! __**IT IS NOT JUST A RUG…!**_"

He shook his head and stalked off to the living room, needing a drink; a strong drink. This could not be happening. It had to be a dream. No, it had to be some kind of sick, twisted nightmare. First Elena is turned into a toddler, and then she _pees on his rug…?_

Back in the other room, Caroline was smiling encouragingly at the terrified little girl before her, trying to coax her forward. "Hi, Elena; my name is Caroline!"

Elena recoiled further and whimpered, "I wants Day-min…"

Caroline sighed, widening her smile, "I brought you presents! Do you wanna come see?"

Elena looked up a bit, "Presents?"

Caroline nodded, "Pretty dresses and dollies and bears…"

Elena took a few steps forward, "Does you have Teddy?"

Caroline smiled; she had thought this issue may come up, and had made a quick stop at the Gilbert residence before coming over, "You mean… this guy?"

She opened one of the bags and pulled out Elena's teddy bear. The little girl gasped, her entire face lighting up as she ran forward and grabbed the bear from Caroline, hugging him tightly, "Tank you! Tank you, tank you, tank you!" she giggled, "I wike you, Car-wo-wine."

Caroline giggled at how she said her name, "You can call me Carey if you want."

Elena giggled, "Otay. Tank you, Car-wee."

Caroline smiled back picked Elena up, several bags still slung over her shoulders, "Come on; lets go get you changed and surprise Damon."

Elena giggled, "Otay…"

… … … … …

Damon was lying on the couch with his eyes squeezed shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon. He sighed, and gasped in surprise when something very small and warm rammed into his side; was he really that out of it that he hadn't heard anyone coming? He opened his eyes and Elena smiled, her arms wrapped around him as best as she could manage. Her big brown eyes were nervous, "I is verwy sorry about your wug. I didn't mean to do it…" she looked terrified of what he may say when she asked him, very quietly, "Does you still wike me?"

Damon chuckled, ruffling her hair; he couldn't stay mad at her. It wasn't possible. "Of course I still wike you, pumpkin," he said and she giggled, pulling herself up to sit on his stomach. She lied down on top of him and looked into his eyes, "Good. I was afwaid you wouldn't wike me no more…"

He smiled at her, "It was an accident, sweetheart. Accidents happen…" he smiled when he realized Caroline had decked her out in an entirely new outfit; she was now wearing an adorable little green sun dress with white Mary Janes on her small feet. "Your new outfit is very pretty," he told her, and she blushed and looked down, "Tank you. Car-wee gived it to me."

He laughed and noticed Caroline smiling at them from where she lounged on the doorframe. "Car-wee?" he asked and Caroline shrugged, "It's easier to say than Car-wo-wine."

Damon laughed and looked back at Elena, who was smiling at him. He smiled back, "Do you want to do something fun?"

Her eyes widened, "Oh, yes!"

"How about Carey and I take you to the… park?"

Elena squealed in excitement and nodded, "Yes! Yes pwease!"

Caroline laughed, "I'll go start the car," she said, grabbing his keys and walking out the door. Elena had started to crawl back to the floor when she suddenly froze, "Wait!" she cried, and Damon frowned, "What's wrong…?"

He trailed off when Elena wrapped her tiny arms around his torso, nuzzling his chest with her cheek and she hugged him as tight as she could. Damon sat, stunned, for a few seconds before he hugged her back. She smiled, "Dat was why I cwimbed up on you in da firwst pwace! I wanted to hug you, Day-min!"

He laughed, astonished at how sweet she was. He gave her another squeeze before letting her go. To his surprise, she wiggled up closer to his face. "Can I tewl you a secwet?"

He grinned, "Sure, you can."

She moved up so that she was leaning in near his ear, "I is verwy gwad you arwent mad at me, Day-min."

He chuckled and gave her one last hug, "I could never stay mad at you, Elena."

She giggled before she finally wiggled off of him and jumped down onto the floor. He stood up and she grabbed his finger tightly in her tiny hand, "Wets go to da park!" she cried, running forward, pulling him along behind her. He laughed, allowing the tiny girl to lead him out the front door.

_**May I just say, I couldn't resist throwing in Damon's obsession with his Persion rug. I happen to love it; I think it's hilarious, and deserves it's own ship. Rugman; there, I coined it! :D hahaha At least Damon can look on the bright side, though; at least it was Elena this time, and not one of Stefan's half dead twister girls... Remember to review; I'm loving all the feedback this story is getting! Your reviews make my day!-Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	4. Boyfriends at the Park

_**Just a quick note; I can't take all the credit for this idea. The idea of Damon taking Elena to the park was suggested to me by one of my most loyal readers/reviewers Keke113, and I can't thank her enough for the brilliant idea! I also happen to be a huge fan of her stories, so everyone should check them out! **_

Elena was sitting in the back of Damon's mustang, in a car seat Caroline had bought. Damon was driving while Caroline sat in the back with Elena, playing games and talking to her. Damon had to try very hard to hide his smile; the last thing he wanted was for Barbie to think he was going soft.

"Car-wee?" Elena asked, and Caroline grinned, "Yes, Elena?"

"What it wike to be big?"

Caroline giggled, "It's… fun."

"What does you do?"

"Well… you get to have a boyfriend when you're big."

Elena looked fascinated, "What dat?"

Damon chuckled, and Caroline raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to Elena, "Well, it's a boy… who you're friends with… who hugs and kisses you."

Elena blinked, seeming a bit disappointed, "Oh. Dat all?"

Caroline looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I only twee and I aweady have a boyfwiend."

Caroline looked stunned, "What?"

"Well, you say dat a boyfwiend hugs and kisses you; Day-min give me hugs and kisses!" Elena giggled and looked at Damon, "Is you my boyfwiend, Day-min?"

Damon looked a bit stunned and taken aback, "I… um…"

"Yeah, Damon," Caroline was grinning at the irony, "Are you her boyfriend?"

"Um… oh, look! We're here!" he said, pulling into the huge, crowded park. There were numerous mothers with the children running around, playing on an enormous wooden jungle gym, swinging on the swings, playing on the spring horses. To Caroline, it looked like fun. To Damon, it looked like a nightmare. "That's… a lot of kids."

"Of course it is! It's a nice day; moms always bring their kids here on nice days."

Damon bit his lip, "You're sure about this?"

Caroline was already busy unbuckling Elena, "Of course I am! Are you ready to go play, Elena?"

"Yaaaaaay!" Elena giggled, and beamed when Caroline got out to come get her. Elena looked at Damon while she waited; he was still sitting in his seat, hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead. Evidently, he was still a bit shocked by Elena asking him if _he was her boyfriend. _Did that little girl have any idea of the effect she had on him.

"Day-min?" she asked as he finally got out so Caroline could move his seat; seeing as though the car only had two doors. It wasn't exactly child friendly…

"Yeah?" he asked, and she blushed, "Will you… push me on da swings?"

Caroline sat her on her feet and she looked up at him expectantly. Damon frowned, "Wouldn't you rather have Carey push you?"

Elena bit her lip and shook her head, "I wants you."

Damon grinned, "Really?"

She nodded, smiling brilliantly at him, "Pwease?"

He smiled and offered her his hand, "If you really want me to…"

She giggled excitedly and latched on to his finger, and he led her over to the swing set, lifting her off of her feet and setting her on the swing. "Hold on tight, sweetie," he said and she grabbed the chains on the swing with her small hands, giggling when he pushed her gently. She laughed, "Higher, higher!"

Damon smiled and pushed her a bit harder; she squealed when she went higher, demanding her push her higher still.

Sitting on a park bench over by the car, Caroline smiled at the pair; so, the menacing Damon Salvatore was good with kids. Who would have guessed? She grinned when she heard what they were saying with her vampire hearing; Elena was giggling, "_Push me as hiiiiigh as you can!_" Damon was laughing as he pushed her on the swing. Caroline bit her lip; maybe he was pushing her a bit _too _high…

Elena had never swung this high before; she could feel the wind whooshing past her as she flew back and forth, Damon's hands gently urging her forward. "Higher, Day-min, higher… oh!" Elena squeaked in fright when she lost her grip on the swing and flew off, heading straight for the hard rocks beneath. Damon gasped in a sharp breath and flew forward with vampire speed, not caring who saw him. He was on his knees in less than a second, and Elena fell straight into his waiting arms. Her eyes were wide with fear, "I-I f-fell…" she whimpered, and buried her face in his shirt, trembling. Damon felt horrible, and he held her tightly, shushing her softly, "It's okay, it's okay…" he assured her, stroking her hair. Caroline was there now, too, looking horrified, "Is she okay? God, you shouldn't have pushed her so high!"

Damon glared at her, and Caroline shut up. Elena looked up at Damon, her eyes wide, "You catched me… y-you _saveded _me…"

Damon gave her a weak smile, "I'm sorry, princess; I shouldn't have pushed you so high…"

"No," Elena shook her head, "I asked you to… it no your fault." She hugged him and Damon buried his face in her soft hair; if she had gotten hurt because of him, he wouldn't have known what to do with himself. Caroline huffed, "Maybe _I _should take her on the jungle gym," she said, accusingly as she glared at him. As much as he hated it, he agreed with her; obviously Caroline knew more about this stuff than he did. "Elena, do you want to go play with Carey?"

She looked confused, "Why? You no want to pway wit me?"

Damon's eyes widened, "No! No, that isn't what I meant. I love playing with you, you know that I do."

Elena nodded, tears in her eyes; clearly she still didn't understand. Damon sighed and leaned over, kissing her forehead, "Why don't go get you some ice cream while you play?"

Elena gave him a tiny smile, "Otay…"

"What kind do you want, princess?" he asked, brushing her wispy brown hair out of her eyes. She smiled, "I wike vanilwa."

He laughed, "Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She still looked like he was abandoning her, and he kissed her forehead again before he stood up and started for the ice cream stand across the park.

"Come on, Elena; let's go play!"

Elena weakly nodded and accepted Caroline's hand, watching Damon walk away. Caroline frowned as she watched her; she wasn't sure if it was possible to break a three year old's heart, but Elena certainly looked like it was.

Damon reached the ice cream stand and stood in line behind a tall woman with long blonde hair. She was standing with a boy who looked to be eight or nine. The woman was probably in her early twenties, and she smiled when she noticed him behind her. "Hi," she smiled, "I'm Tasha."

Damon nodded and politely smiled back; he knew that look all too well. This "Tasha" girl would proceed to ask his name, giggle, twirl her hair, bat her lashes and ask if he was seeing anyone. Then, no matter what he said, she would giggle again and say something stupid like, "Well, maybe I can change that." Normally Damon enjoyed the attention. Today it was just annoying. "Hi, Tasha," he said.

The boy frowned, "Tasha, I want rocky road."

"Not now, Billy!" she snapped, and the boy rolled his eyes and walked away. Damon tried his best not to laugh at the display. Tasha grinned at him once the little boy was gone, "So; what's your name?"

"Damon Salvatore." Damon said, glancing over his shoulder and smiling as he watched Elena go down a yellow slide and land in Caroline's waiting arms. Tasha frowned when she noticed what he was staring at, "Is she yours?"

"What?" Damon asked, turning back to her.

"The little girl; is she your daughter?"

"Um… something like that." He glanced at the boy who sat on a bench, pouting. "Is he your son?"

"Oh, God no." Tasha sneered, "He's some stupid kid I'm babysitting." Tasha turned back on her smile and glanced at Elena and Caroline, "She's adorable. She must get it from her daddy."

Damon bit his lip; well, that was awkward… "She isn't my daughter; I'm just babysitting."

Tasha's smile widened, "Oh. Cool. So," she batted her lashes and twirled her blonde curls, "Are you seeing anyone?"

_Are you my boyfwiend, Day-min?_

A grin slowly came to Damon's lips, "Actually, yes."

The girl pouted, "Well, she can't be as pretty as I am."

"Oh, much prettier. Are you planning on ordering, because if not, I'd like to."

The girl looked like he had just slapped her in the face. She glared and stalked away. Damon walked up to the counter, asked for a cup of vanilla with a spoon (there was no way he was getting a cone; he didn't want another pudding incident) and compelled the ice cream girl to give it to him for free. He then walked back over to Caroline, who was talking with another girl around her age. "Where's Elena?" he asked her.

"Oh, she's right up… there," Caroline frowned and looked around, "She was right there."

Damon's eyes widened in horror, "Where is she?"

Caroline scanned the jungle gym, "I don't see her up there."

"Elena?" Damon called, running around the playground, "Elena!"

He tossed the ice cream away and franticly pulled at his hair, his blue eyes wild, "_Elena!_"

Caroline met up with him ten minutes later, "It's no use; she isn't here."

"I left her with you for ten minutes," Damon snapped, "_Ten minutes, and you lost her!_"

Caroline had never seen Damon this scared; yes, he looked terrified. With good reason, too; Elena was an adorable, loving little toddler who would likely walk away with anyone who was nice to her. He had no idea where she was, or who she was with.

If Elena having an accident on his rug was a nightmare, then this had to mean he had died and gone straight to hell.

"_ELENA!_"

_**Keke113 also suggested Elena getting lost; thanks again! Everyone, remember to review!- Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	5. Ewayna's Prince Will Always Save Her

_** Part of this turned out a bit darker than I had planned for such a happy little story; I hope that you will all still like it, though. I promise nothing awful happens; or, rather, Day-min promises that nothing awful happens. Enjoy, and remember to review!- Charlie'sLostVampire**_

"Where is we goin', Mister?" Elena asked as she followed the man before her deeper into the woods. She had been waiting for Caroline to finish talking when he got her attention on the other side of the jungle gym. He had asked her what her name was, and then who she was with. When she showed him Caroline, who was busy talking, and Damon, who was talking to a woman in line for ice cream, the man had smiled and asked if she wanted to go for a walk. Of course, Elena had liked the idea of a walk and said yes.

She was starting to get a bit afraid as the woods grew deeper and darker, "I… I wants to go back to Day-min."

"No, you don't," the man replied, and led her deeper into the woods.

… . … . … . … . …

"Bonnie!" Damon roared, throwing her door open and dashing for her bedroom with vampiric speed, Caroline following behind him. Bonnie gasped in surprise when they suddenly appeared. She frowned, "Where's Elena…?"

"That's why we're here. Locator spell; now!" Damon roared, and Bonnie looked horribly confused. "What happened…?" she asked, and Damon grabbed her spell book, searching for the spell impatiently. "Well," Caroline bit her lip, "I sort of got distracted, and…"

"She lost her!" Damon shouted, tossing the book down and glaring, "Bonnie, hurry the hell up!"

"Okay, okay! Do you have something of hers?"

Damon paled; he didn't think he did. "Caroline, please tell me you have something…"

Caroline was out the door and back in a matter of seconds, a bag in hand. "I have what she was wearing earlier…"

Damon sat on Bonnie's bed, his face in his hands, "Hurry, please!"

Bonnie bit her lip, "I need her blood, too…"

"For the love of God, we don't have time for this! Elena is missing!" Damon snapped, leaping up in frustration.

Bonnie sighed, "I'll try it without the blood, but I won't get a clear image. Just a vibe…"

"I don't care, just do it!"

Bonnie shut her eyes, held the little pink shirt and began to whisper in Latin. A few minutes later her eyes snapped open. "The woods, somewhere; I couldn't tell exactly where…"

Damon was out the door before she could finish speaking.

… . … . … . … . …

The woods behind the park were growing dark as the sun started to set; Damon knew he was running out of time. If Elena was in these woods, she was both lost and alone, or with someone else and in trouble. Either way, he had to find her. He couldn't let anything happen to her. He stopped running for a moment and scanned the area; he caught a scent after a few seconds. He followed it, and kneeled down in disbelief when he noticed where it was coming from; there, caught in a thick tangle of grass, was Elena's tiny little white Mary Jane. There was no way she would have just left it behind if she was alone.

Damon felt his fangs extend in fury; someone had taken her. He took off like a bullet, their trail now easy to follow.

… . … . … . … . …

Elena was cold and very, very scared. This man wasn't nice at all. She had told him she wanted to go back, to go find Damon and Caroline, but he wouldn't let her. When she started to cry and tried to run away, he had hit her and grabbed her arm, pulling her along behind him. Right now, they were in a dark, wet, muddy area, and he had finally stopped pulling her along behind her. Elena was sobbing, "I wanna go hoooome…!"

He hit her again and she wailed in terror and pain, falling backward in the mud. The man glared down at her, and Elena quivered in terror; the man had messy brown hair and looked like he hadn't shaved in months. He was a scary man; she didn't know why she had gone with him. He was mean, and he hurt her. Damon would never do that to her…

The man grinned at her, "Do you want to play a game?"

Elena whimpered and shook her head, "No… no, I no want to pway wit you…"

He glared and sat on the muddy ground beside her, pushing her onto her back. Elena screamed in fear and the man covered her mouth, "Be quiet, you little brat!"

He pulled his hand away and Elena screamed again, "Day-min! Help me…!" Elena was sobbing and screaming as loudly as she could, and the man hit her again. Her face was starting to hurt, and so were her arms. "Pwease stop!" Elena wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Stop hurting me…!"

"I told you to shut up…!" the man yelled, raising his hand again. Elena screamed and shut her eyes, but the blow never came. Instead, she heard an infuriated yell, and the smash of someone hitting a tree. There was animal like growling, and Elena opened her eyes. She couldn't tell what was going on; it had started to rain, and it was blurring her vision. All she could tell was that the man wasn't on top of her any more, and that someone was pinning him to a tree a few meters away. The attacker had black hair, but that was all she could make out. She could hear him yelling now, "No one, and I mean _no one, _touches my little girl! Do you hear me, you bastard? _NO ONE!_"

Elena whimpered, "D-Day-m-min…?"

… . … . … . … . …

Damon had the filthy man pinned to a tree, his fangs out and his eyes menacing. He wanted to rip the scum apart, but he couldn't let Elena see him do that. However, it was more than tempting; the bastard had hit her. He had hit her more than once, and had pinned her to the ground, ready to know God knows what to her; to a tiny little three year old girl! The dirt bag deserved to die. Even if Damon couldn't dismember him, there was no way in hell he was letting him get away unscathed.

The man looked terrified at the monster before him, "Y-your little girl? What….?"

Damon reared back and sank his fangs into the man's neck, causing him to scream and twitch. Damon didn't even drink his blood; he simply ripped at the man's neck, making it really look like he had been mauled by an animal. A very angry, parental animal whose young had been threatened. Perhaps a bear, or a wolf.

The man fell to the ground, bleeding and wailing, and Damon kicked him as hard as he could, hearing the satisfying crunch of bones snapping.

With that, Damon crouched beside him, his teeth still bared, "Be thankful you're still alive."

He punched him swiftly in the jaw once before drawing back his fangs and allowing his eyes return to their normal blue. He then stood up and rushed to Elena's side; she was whimpering, and her cheek was bleeding and turning purple. "Elena…" he moaned, falling to his knees beside her.

"Day-min!" she sobbed, crawling into his arms, her dress, arms, and legs coated with mud. She was shivering as the rain poured down around them. Damon held her fiercely, tears pouring down his face. He could have lost her. He had been _this close _to losing her. "Oh, Elena…" he said, his voice cracking as he pulled back to kiss her cheeks in relief. She was sobbing and clinging tightly to him.

Damon stroked her hair, "I'm going to take you home, okay? It's going to be fine, I promise. Just hold me tight, alright?" She nodded against his chest and Damon stood up, taking off with vampiric speed toward the boarding house.

… . … . … . … . …

Elena was confused, cold, and snivelling when Damon shoved the boarding house door open, finding Caroline and Bonnie both sitting on the couch waiting for him. "Oh, my God!" Caroline gasped when she saw Elena's battered cheeks.

Damon was still stroking her hair, trying to make her stop crying. "Just sit beside Bon Bon and Carey and wait for me, okay? I'm going to go get you a drink."

Elena sobbed and shook her head, holding him tighter, "D-d-don't weave m-m-me…!"

Her crying broke his heart and he held her more tightly, stroking her hair. "I promise to only be a minute… I'm not going to leave; I'm only going to the kitchen."

Elena coughed and shook her head, "Pwease don't go, Day-min; pwease!"

Her red, puffy eyes were ripping him apart; but, more distracting were the angry cuts and bruises covering her cheeks. He knew he had to give her something to heal her. He refused to let her stay that way. "Elena, sweetheart, you need to listen to me," he said firmly, carrying her away from Caroline and Bonnie's prying ears and eyes, into the kitchen. "I am so, so, so sorry that I let this happen to you… I never should have left you alone," he said, gently stroking her downy hair with feather-light touches. "I love you, Elena, and I promise to never let anyone hurt you ever again. Okay? Do you understand?"

She weakly nodded, more tears trailing down her cheeks. She hiccoughed from crying, and buried her tiny head in his shoulder. "Sweetie, does it hurt?"

She was shivering and nodded, "He was m-m-mean… he hurted m-me…"

He bit back angry tears, "I'm going to make it stop hurting, okay? But you need to go wait with Bonnie and Caroline, and I'll be right in. I promise you."

She slowly nodded, "I bewieve you, Day-min…"

He kissed her forehead and held her tightly for another moment before carrying her back into the living room and placing her between the two girls, "Give me a minute, alright?"

They both nodded. Damon ran back into the kitchen and allowed his fangs to extend, biting down into his wrist and grabbing a small cup out of one of the cabinets. He allowed his blood to fill it before he licked his wrist, sealing the wound. He sighed and rushed back into the living room, gesturing for the girls to move off the couch. They didn't argue, allowing Damon to sit beside Elena and pull her into his lap. "There you go, sweetheart…" he whispered, passing her the cup. "Drink it; it will make you feel all better."

She looked up at him with nervous eyes, "Does it taste yucky? Mommy make me dwink icky stuff when I gets sick…"

Damon smiled weakly and shook his head, "No, sweetie; I tastes good."

She gave him a tiny smile and started to drink the blood; it dribbled down her chin, since she clearly wasn't used to using a regular cup. Caroline looked shocked and rushed over, "You aren't giving her…?"

She quickly stopped talking a cringed away at the accusing glare he shot her; it positively screamed that if she hadn't lost her in the first place, he wouldn't need to be healing her.

Elena finished the blood, and Damon was more than relieved to see the scrapes and cuts quickly healing, the bruises fading away. Elena smiled up at him, "You was wight; dat _did _taste yummy." Damon grinned and wiped away the blood that was on her chin with his finger, reflexively sticking it in his mouth and licking it off. Elena giggled again and he frowned in confusion, "What's so funny?" She giggled again and looked up at him, "You looks like dose tings in da books dat my cousin Mark weads."

Caroline excused herself to go get something to drink, and Bonnie followed her, leaving Damon alone with Elena. "Oh, yeah?" he asked her, "What do I look like?"

She had to think for a minute, "Um… dey was called… vampfires! Yeah, you wook wike a vampfire, Day-min!"

Damon gaped at the little girl in his lap in disbelief, and could hear Caroline spit out and begin to choke on whatever it was she had been drinking. Obviously Bonnie hadn't heard, because she kept asking in confusion, "What? What's wrong?"

Damon started to laugh, "I do, do I?"

She giggled, "Not weally, I guess. Vampfires is scarwy, but you is too nice to ever be scarwy, Day-min," she said, giving him a hug. Damon sighed, grinning, "Oh, Elena…"

Caroline and Bonnie both rushed into the living room, Caroline looking stunned and Bonnie still confused. "Did she just say what I think she just said?" Caroline asked. Damon grinned, "If you are referring to her thinking I look like a _vampfire, _then yes, yes she did."

Elena looked confused that everyone didn't seem to understand why she had said it. Then, of course as even a baby version of Elena would do, she got defensive, "Well, he did! He wipeded da juice off of my face, and den he licked it off his finner! I wooked wike bwood, so he wooked wike a vampfire!"

Damon was shaking with silent laughter at Elena's pout, and Caroline and Bonnie still looked floored.

"Um…" Bonnie said, "If you guys don't need me, I'm just gonna go home and see if I can find the counter curse."

Damon nodded and kissed Elena's forehead, "We're just fine here."

Caroline looked slightly irritated, "I suppose you want me to leave to?"

"Yep," Damon answered simply, tickling Elena. She giggled.

Caroline rolled her eyes and stormed out the front door after Bonnie, slamming it. "Uh oh," Elena said, "I tink Car-wee is an-gy ats us."

Damon laughed, hugging her tightly, "It's okay; we don't need her anyway, do we?"

Elena giggled as he began to tickle her and kiss her cheeks. She laughed, "You _is _my boyfwiend!" she laughed, and Damon grinned blissfully, "I'll be whatever you want me to be, princess."

Her eyes lit up, "Can you be E-way-na's pwince charming, wike in Cinderwella?"

He blinked a few times, "What do you mean?"

She giggled, "I can be Cinderwella, and we can dance at da bawl!"

Damon grinned, "Your wish is my command, princess."

Elena burst into a peal of giggles when he suddenly swept her up into his arms and began humming and twirling her around the living room. Elena started humming, very off key, along with him and Damon grinned. He then glanced at her foot, and noticed he still hadn't returned her shoe. He waltzed her over to a leather arm chair and sat her down, and Elena frowned in confusion. "What you doin', Day-min?"

Her eyes widened in surprise when he pulled out her shoe and slipped it onto her tiny foot. She beamed, "You finded my shoe!" Her mouth opened in a surprised little O, and she looked up at him, "You weally _is _pwince charming, just wike in Cinderwella… does dis mean I get to wive happiwy ever after wit you, in your castle?"

He smiled, "When you get bigger, if you want to live in my castle you can stay here forever and ever."

Elena smiled, "Otay; I will wait for you."

Damon laughed and bit his lip, noticing that she was still covered in mud. "You, little girl," he stated, "Need a bath."

She frowned, "A _bath? _But baths is yucky…"

Damon grinned, an idea springing into his mind, "I completely agree with you! But… do you like bubble baths?"

Elena's eyes widened and she beamed, "Can I haves a bubble bath, Day-min?"

He chuckled and lifted her up, carrying her up the stairs. "Of course you can, princess." Elena giggled in excitement, and then seemed to remember something, "Oh! Da pajamwas Car-wee gots me is in dat woom over der," she said, pointing to one of the many spare rooms. Damon grinned and walked into the room, setting her on the bed and opening the bag. Actually, there were many pairs of pajamas. Clearly, Caroline had come prepared. He held the bag out to her, "Which pair do you want?"

Elena giggled and looked inside the big bag, grinning in satisfaction when she pulled out a soft pink nightgown with ruffles at the bottom, "Dis is verwy pwetty; I wove pink."

He chuckled and took her hand, leading her out of the room and into his own. Elena's eyes widened as she looked around, "Wow! Who sweeps in dis woom?" He chuckled again, "I do."

She looked at him with big brown eyes, "You really is a pwince, isn't you?"

He laughed, "Sure."

She beamed as he led her into the bathroom and sat her on her feet, beginning to fill the tub and pouring in enough bubble bath to last hours. Elena was already pulling off her shoes, but frowned and whimpered when she got her arms stuck trying to remove her muddy dress, "I is stuck."

Damon chuckled and helped her, and then put her in the big tub. She giggled and picked up a hand full of bubbles, sticking them on her face like a beard, "Wook! I is Santa! Ho-ho-ho!" Damon laughed, "Well, you're a very pretty Santa."

He noticed Elena's cheeks turn slightly pink under the bubbles, as they always seemed to if he gave her a compliment, kissed her cheek, or looked at her a certain way. It was almost as if she…

Had a crush on him? He grinned at the idea, smiling as Elena played with the bubbles. He finally shut off the water, leaning against the tub as he sat on the floor and watched her play. He had turned to look across the room, and his eyes widened in surprise when the top of his head suddenly felt wet, and bubbles dripped into his face. He turned to look at Elena, and she was giggling, attempting to hide behind a rather large group of bubbles. Damon glanced in the mirror to find that he had a pile of bubbled on the top of his head. He grinned and shook his head, and Elena giggled louder. He turned around to look at her again, and she went silent her brown eyes wide. Damon grinned at her and picked up a hand full of bubbles. For a moment, she looked afraid of what he planned on doing. But, a moment later, he shoved the bubbles in his own face, causing Elena to burst into laughed and move over toward him, wiping the bubbles away with her tiny hand, "You all wet, Day-min!" He grinned, but then noticed the mud caked in her thin hair. "We need to wash your hair, angel," he told her, and she frowned. "No. Pwease, Day-min; when Mommy does it, I always gets soap in my eyes…"

Damon smiled, "I promise not to."

She looked up at him, "Does you pinky pwomise?"

He smiled and looped his pinky with her small one, "Absolutely."

Elena smiled and nodded, "Otay, den."

He smiled and picked up his shampoo, squeezing a bit into his hand and beginning to gently work it into her soft, thin hair. Elena giggled and played with the bubbles around her while he did, and he smiled at her. A few minutes later he had finished scrubbing her hair, "Time to rinse." Elena bit her lip, "Don't forget your pwomise."

He smiled and grabbed one of the many wine glasses he kept in his bathroom and filled it with water. "I'm going to cover your eyes, okay?" She nodded and he did so, pouring the water over the soap in her hair, doing it precisely so it fell behind her head and not into her face at all. A few minutes later he was finished and moved his hand away, "All done." Elena opened her eyes and blinked a few times, seeming surprised, "You weally didn't get any in my eyes."

She smiled at him, "Tank you, Day-min." He chuckled, "You're welcome." She sat in the tub for a few more minutes before turning to him, "Can I get out now? I'm starting to gets sweepy…"

He grinned and nodded, grabbing a red towel and getting her out, drying her off and getting her into her little nightgown. She smiled as he ran a comb gently through her hair, and then he picked her up and carried her back into the spare room. "Ready for bed, sweetie?"

She nodded and let him pull back the covers, tucking her into bed. "Sweet dreams, my princess," he whispered to her, kissing her cheek softly. Elena's eyes were already drooping, "Night night, Day-min…" she whispered, shutting her eyes and snuggling into the blankets. He had started for the door when she called him back, "Day-min?" He turned around, "Yes?"

She looked at him with her big, innocent brown eyes, "Will you get me Teddy?"

Damon smiled and walked over to dig in one of the bags, pulling out Elena's teddy bear. He smiled at the fact that he had played with it numerous times while laying on her bed, listening to her lecture him about one thing or another. He passed it to her and she wrapped her tiny arms around it, nuzzling her face into it. She smiled at him, "Tank you."

He smiled and nodded, "Of course."

She watched him go before shutting her eyes, falling into an exhausted sleep.


	6. Eleanor and Damian

After Elena had fallen asleep, Damon headed back to his own room, deciding to take a shower to sort out his thoughts. As more and more stars began to appear in the night sky outside, the reality of the near impossible situation they were currently in really began to sink in for him. As he felt the warm water trail down his body, he frowned; Elena was a toddler. Elena, the girl he frequently caught himself fantasizing about… was a three year old. In a strange way, the situation was very near to heaven for him. This adorable, clingy little Elena adored him in a way that her ordinary self never showed. She frequently hugged him, beamed at him, giggled at everything he said; as odd as it was, it was almost like the daughter he had always dreamed of, but knew he would never have.

He didn't know what exactly to make of it. He certainly wasn't in love with this Elena; that would be too weird, even for Mystic Falls. But, he loved her just the same. He adored her cute little habits, her laugh, and the sparkle that never seemed to leave her innocent chocolate eyes. Part of him silently hoped that Bonnie would never find the counter curse, and that he could keep his little angel forever. Yet, another part of him yearned for the normalcy of having Elena banter with him, snub him, but very plainly care about him.

He was torn; torn between two versions of the exact same person.

Sighing and shaking his head, Damon got out of the shower and wrapped a black towel around his waist, toweling his hair dry before heading into his bedroom and throwing on a simple pair of black sweat pants. Rubbing his head, which was weary with exhaustion from the day's dramatic events, he crawled into the large four poster bed, snapped off the bedside lamp, and was asleep within seconds.

… . … . … . … . …

Damon wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he was awoken by the sound of tiny whimpering somewhere close by. His eyes well adapted for darkness, he focused on Elena standing by the edge of his bed, clutching her teddy bear with tears streaming down her cheeks. Damon rolled onto his side and looked at her. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"

She wiped her eyes on her teddy bear, which was a feeble attempt seeing as though the tears were still coming, "I… had a scarwy dweam."

He frowned and moved closer to her, stroking her hair, "A bad dream, huh?" he said and she nodded. "Me was in da car wit Mommy and Daddy, and Daddy was yellin' at me, and den… den Mommy scweamed at him to wook out, and we… we dwove off of da bwidge…!"

Damon's eyes widened in horror and he quickly snatched her up, pulling her quivering figure into his arms protectively. Elena hadn't had a nightmare; she had been remembering the night that her parents died. Apparently, her subconscious was still eighteen. "Shh…" he hushed her, kissing the top of her head, "It's okay, Elena; you're safe. You're fine…"

"B-b-but M-Mommy and D-Daddy arwent! Dey crashed, and dey… dey _died!_" Elena wailed, sobbing uncontrollably. Damon rocked her back and forth as she cried, stroking her hair and holding her tightly. "Don't cry, baby…" he whispered to her, kissing her head again. Elena continued to sob, and Damon decided to resort to one of the only ways he could remember his mother making Stefan stop crying when he had been young; singing.

"_Chut mon amour, tu ne pleures pas. Je promets de vous donner la mer et le ciel._"

He was singing softly, with a voice like silk and velvet, an old lullaby from France, where his mother had grown up. She had been very proudly French, and spoke the language to them as often as their father spoke Italian. Both languages were imprinted in Damon's brain; Italian a bit more so, due to him having lost his mother at a young age. But, Damon had exercised his French knowledge well when he spent a few years in his mother's beloved country after he was turned. He still visited often, and found that the French never seemed to get rusty. Elena quieted her sobs a tiny bit, seeming interested in the strange words he was singing to her.

"_Les oiseaux chantent des chansons pour vous_. _Alor chut maintenant ma ch__érie, ne doit pas être bleue._"

Elena was merely sniffling now as she gazed up at him as he sang; he seemed to have gotten a bit lost in the memory of the song, and continued to stare blankly ahead when he finished singing. It was a simple, short sonnet, but it worked like a charm back in the 1800s. Elena sniffled again and wiped her tears on the worn head of her teddy bear. "D-Day-min?" she whispered and he looked back down at her. She gave a tiny hiccough, "W-what was you s-singin'?"

He smile and brushed her hair away from her face, "It's a very old song that my mommy used to sing to me and my little brother when we were upset."

Elena looked astonished, "Y-you has a wittle brudder, too? Mines is names Jer-wem-ey."

Damon gave her a tiny smile; it seemed so odd to think she didn't know his brother. "Mine is named Stefan."

"Oh. Your mommy musta wiked you betterer."

Damon chuckled, "Why do you say that, princess?"

"Because," she said, as though it should be obvious, "she givded you a pwettier name. Day-min is a verwy nice name, but Stef-in is… borwing."

Damon laughed, "Oh, Elena… do you know how adorable you are?"

She blushed and smiled at him, "I's not dat coot…"

He grinned as he moved her to lie down beside him and began to tickle her, kissing her cheeks. She giggled insanely as he said, "Oh, yes you are! You are the cutest, most adorable little girl I have ever met, Elena Gilbert."

She giggled as she looked up at him from his pillows. "Sing to me," she said suddenly, her eyes curious, "Sing me more of your mommy's songs."

Damon grinned and tried to think of another she may like. He grinned, "What if I talk to you in French instead?"

"Fwench?" Elena said curiously, "What dat?"

He chuckled, "It's the language the song was in. My mommy spoke French."

"Oh," Elena nodded, seeming very intellectually satisfied for a three year old. Damon chuckled again, "Do you want me to?"

She nodded eagerly, smiling at him. He chuckled, "Je t'aime, Elena."

She smiled, "What does dat mean?"

"It means," he said, touching her nose, "I love you, Elena."

She giggled, "Does you weally wuv me, Day-min?"

He smiled at her, "Of course I do! You are very, very special to me. You're my little princess."

She smiled up at him, her brown eyes filled with very clear adoration. "I wuv you more."

He blinked a few times in surprise, his heart swelling. This little girl, who meant the world to him currently, had just told him she loved him. _Elena loved him. _

He was smiling at her when she suddenly chewed on her tiny bottom lip, "Day-min?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Could I… sweep wit you tonight? In case I has anudder bad dweam?"

Damon smiled and nodded, "Of course you can, angel. Come on," he said, pulling up the blankets so that she could crawl over and snuggled beneath them. She moved as close as she could get to him, nuzzling his bare chest. A few minutes later, she yawned and Damon grinned and kissed her hair, "Go to sleep, princess. I'll be right here, and I'll keep the bad dreams away."

She looked up at him in the darkness as she hugged her bear, "You can do dat?"

He nodded, "Of course I can."

"Is you magic, Day-min?"

He chuckled, "Something like that."

"Oh," she nodded and snuggled back into him. She sighed as sleep began to claim her once again, "Will you… tell me a stowy?

He smiled, "About what?"

"Pwincesses and pwinces. I wike stowies wike dat."

He ran his hand through her thin hair and smiled in thought. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named… Eleanor. She had lived in the kingdom of Magical Falls her entire life, and was friends with everyone. One day, she met a prince named Steven. He was very handsome, and very kind to Eleanor. She liked him very much; maybe even loved him. _But, _the prince had an older brother who," Damon grinned, "Was even more handsome, and very charming. His name was Damian, and he had followed his brother to Magical Falls, in hopes of finding his long lost princess, Katrina. But, Prince Damian had his heart broken when he found out that Princess Katrina did not love him in return, but loved his brother, Steven."

"Dat's sad," Elena observed, listening intently.

"Oh, yes," Damon agreed, "Very sad. Damian was heartbroken, and didn't know what to do. Of course, the beautiful and kind princess Eleanor took it upon herself to help mend the poor prince's broken heart. As Damian and Eleanor became friends, Damian found himself falling in love with Eleanor. He loved her very much; more than he had ever loved Katrina."

"But El-wa-nor wuvs Steven, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does," Damon bit his lip, "That was a problem for Damian. Where he loved Eleanor more than anything, he also cared about his little brother, and wanted them both to be happy. So, he gave Eleanor up."

"Poor Damian," Elena said quietly, cuddling closer as she listened.

"Yes, poor Damian… well, a few months later, Damian got very, very sick. Everyone in Magical Falls thought he was going to die for sure, and Eleanor was heartbroken. She loved Steven, that was very true; but she also cared very much about Damian, and hated to see him so sick. She promised him that she would stay with him until he died, and Damian loved her very, very much for that. Just as he was about to fall into a sleep he may never wake up from, Eleanor gave him a kiss to show him that she cared about him, as well. Damian had thanked her, and Eleanor, who was crying, said that he was very welcome. But, just then, Princess Katrina appeared with a cure!"

"Yay!" Elena said happily.

"Oh, but it came at a price, Elena," Damon told her, and her eyes widened. "What was da pwice?"

"Damian's little brother had given himself over to a very mean wizard name Nicholas, who gave him Damian's cure in exchange for him doing everything he said. Nicholas made Steven leave the kingdom with him, and Eleanor and Damian were very sad. They were afraid they may never see Steven again. Nicholas made Steven do very bad things to people who didn't deserve them, and he also made him hurt Eleanor."

"No!" Elena gasped, and Damon nodded. "Yes; Nicholas was a very, very mean man. But, as bad as they felt about it, while Steven was gone with him, Eleanor and Damian began to fall very much in love with each other. Damian felt very guilty, because he knew his brother cared about her very much. But, he loved her as well. One night, after… a ball, Damian took Eleanor home. He told her that he wasn't sure if Steven was every coming back. Eleanor was upset, but she understood. Damian told her that he hated the way everything made him feel; he hated feeling guilty for loving her. He had begun to leave when he suddenly turned around, ran back and kissed the princess he loved so much."

Damon glanced at Elena to see her reaction; she simply watched him, eyes wide, waiting for more.

"Damian was very happy that he had kissed the princess, and thought that perhaps she was happy about it, too. But, it ended up making both of them very, very confused. A few weeks later, Eleanor's friend… Becky, who was a magical fairy, accidentally put a spell on Eleanor before she and Damian could talk about how they felt for each other. Now, Damian is very confused and unsure of what to do… and he misses Eleanor very much."

Elena looked up at him with her big eyes, "Well, why won't Damian give El-wa-nor a kiss? Kisses _always _bweak da spell!"

"But it isn't that easy for Damian; he isn't sure if Eleanor wants him to kiss her. A spell has to be broken with true loves kiss… and Eleanor still loves Steven."

Elena frowned, "El-wa-nor is 'tupid. Damian wuvs her! She should wuv him, too."

Damon gave Elena a small smile, "Damian wishes she would."

Elena looked up at him, "What happens next?"

Damon leaned down and kissed her forehead, "That's enough for tonight. You need to sleep."

Elena yawned, "Otay…"

She suddenly crawled up closer on the pillow and gave him a sloppy, three year old's kiss on his cheek, "I wuv you, Day-min. Tank you for wetting me sweep wit you."

He stroked her hair, "You're welcome, princess."


	7. I Pinky Swear that I'll Never Forget You

To Damon's surprise, he awoke relatively early the next morning. Normally he was a Sleep until Noon Unless You Have a Good Reason kind of guy, but today was different. Extremely different, given the fact that there was a tiny little girl curled up against his chest, sleeping with an adorable smile plastered on her face. Damon grinned; Elena. Dear sweet Elena… what was he going to do with her today? He bit his lip in thought; the park was out. There was no way in hell he would ever take her there again. Not after what happened. But… what else could he do with a three year old?

As if on cue, Elena stirred, her brown eyes fluttering open. She looked up at him, still half asleep, and yawned. "Good morning, Day-min," she said, smiling up at him. Damon grinned and mussed up her already wild brown, downy hair. "No more bad dreams?"

She shook her head. "Nope. You was right; you kepted da bad dweams away. I dweamed dat I was a bootiful pwincess, and I wived in a castle wit udder pwincesses and pwinces… it was magical."

Damon grinned, "It sounds like an amazing dream."

Elena yawned again. "It was."

Damon smiled and sat up, placing her in his lap. "So, princess Elena; what do you want to do today?"

Elena rubbed her eyes. "Can we stay here and watch cartoons?"

Damon chuckled. "That's all that you want to do all day?"

Elena nodded, smiling; she still looked sleepy. "I is still tired… I no feel wike pwaying a wot today." Damon smiled and nodded, putting her on the bed beside him and standing up. "That's fine with me," he said as he walked over to his dresser to find something to wear. If he was being honest, he was a bit glad she was tired; he wasn't sure if he could take another eventful day of babysitting.

Elena crawled off of his big bed and ran over to his side. "Is you pickin' out cwothes?" she asked him and he nodded as he opened a drawer. Elena beamed, "Can me hewlp you?"

Damon chuckled and picked her up, allowing him to look over his numerous shirts. Of course, the single dark blue button down amongst all of the black caught her eye right away, and she pointed to it. "Dat one! I _wuv _bwoo!"

Damon chuckled and placed her back on her feet, kissing her cheek. "So do I," he agreed with her, taking it from the drawer and grabbing a pair of black jeans. Elena giggled as he scooped her up and sat her on the bed. "Can you stay here while I get dressed?" he asked her and she nodded. "Yes, Day-min."

He smiled as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. He dressed quickly, fixing his hair before walking back into his room. He frowned; Elena wasn't on the bed, of course. He sighed, about to go look for her when there was suddenly a squeal, and Elena jumped out from behind him, latching onto his leg and laughing insanely. Damon shook his head, trying to take a step forward. Elena giggled and clung tighter to his leg.

"Ah," Damon nodded, "that's how you want to play, is it?"

Elena looked up at him, giggling, and squealed in surprise when he casually continued to walk out of the room as if she weren't hanging from his leg at all. Elena laughed. "Where we goin'?"

"We are going to your room," Damon informed her, opening the door to the guest room that her new things were in. "You need to get dressed, too!"

Elena giggled as he picked her up and sat her on the bed, picking up one of the bags. "Ooh," he grinned when he pulled out a dark blue t-shirt, the same color as his. "We can match!" he grinned, pulling out a pair of small black jeans to go with it. Elena giggled, reaching into one of the bags and pulling out a tiny pair of blue sneakers. "I wike dese," she giggled, showing them to him.

"They're adorable," Damon agreed as he sat beside her on the bed, helping her out of her nightgown and into her new outfit. He helped her put on the shoes and then picked her up, carrying her downstairs. Elena giggled as soon as he sat her on the couch in the living room. He plopped down beside her and she crawled into his lap, leaning into his chest as he flicked on the TV. "What do you want to watch, Pumpkin?" he asked as he scrolled through the channels.

"I wants to watch Sponge Bob!" she giggled, and Damon obediently flicked on the extremely un-educational TV show, causing Elena to squeal in excitement. Soon she was laughing at everything the strange little sponge did, and Damon even chuckled a few times at the sheer idiocy of modern children's programing. He frowned in confusion when he heard a knock at the door. "I'll be right back," he said, kissing her hair before setting her on the couch on her own and starting for the front door.

When he opened it, he found Bonnie standing there. She walked in and launched into her speech without even waiting for a greeting. "I think I figured out what went wrong," she said. "Nice to see you, too," Damon said, shaking his head and shutting the door. Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Damon! If I'm right, I might be able to change her back."

Damon bit his lip. There it was; that horrible pang of loss at the idea of his little princess going away forever. "Well, explain," he said, in a slightly choked voice. "Well, I think…"

"_Day-min! It all over!_"

"Just a second," Damon said, walking back into the living room. Bonnie followed him, suddenly interested. She hadn't really witnessed Damon in action with the little girl who had been staying with him. But, according to Caroline, he was a wiz with her; a natural father figure. She found herself smiling as she watched Damon plop down beside the little girl and pick up the remote. Her smile slipped a bit curiously when she watched Elena squirm over to where he sat, nuzzling into his side affectionately. Damon gently ran a finger through her thin tresses as he searched for something else to entertain her. Bonnie pulled out her cellphone and secretly began to record the scene.

"How about Dora?" he asked her, and Elena shook her head. "Dor-wa is for babies."

Damon chuckled. "You're absolutely right; how could I ever forget?"

Elena crawled into his lap. "It otay; I forgives you."

Damon smiled as Elena kissed his cheek and snuggled into his neck as she watched the TV. "What about Curious George?"

"Oh, yes!" she nodded, "I wuvs monkeys."

He chuckled and turned on the show, and Elena smiled. He stared down at her innocent little face and stroked her cheek, beginning to feel that sense of loss. This could, if Bonnie knew the counter curse, very well be his last few minutes with his precious little girl. Soon enough, she would be back to her old, temperamental self who hid her feelings from him and only loved his brother. He squeezed his eyes shut, biting his lip before he bent down to kiss the top of her head, his eyes opening again. Elena looked up and noticed the sadness covering his features, and she frowned. "What wrong, Day-min?"

He shook his head, smiling weakly at her. "Nothing, sweetheart."

She shook her head, not believing him. "You is sad. What wrong?"

He smiled and gently mussed her hair. "I guess I'm just going to miss you."

She looked confused. "Why you miss me? I no goin' anywheres."

He smiled, "Bon Bon said you can go home soon. I'll miss you when you leave."

Elena smiled at him. "You no need to be sad. I come visit lots when I goes home."

Damon smiled at her and extended his pinky. "Do you pinky promise?" She nodded and wrapped her little pinky around his. "I pinky _swear._"

He laughed and kissed her forehead, causing her to blush and smile up at him. "I goin' to miss you, too, Day-min. I wuvs you."

She gave him a tight hug and Damon nuzzled the top of her head with his nose, inhaling her sweet, calming baby scent. "I love you more."

Bonnie bit her lip; the scene was heartbreaking. It really was like Damon losing his own daughter; he and Elena had honestly become that close. Now, it was all being snatched away from him. But Elena couldn't stay like that forever. She couldn't and he knew it. They all knew it.

He sighed and gave her one last little kiss before moving her to sit on her own on the couch. "I have to go talk to Bon Bon, okay?"

She nodded, seeming a bit upset at his leaving. "Otay…"

He looked at her for a second longer before turning around. Bonnie quickly tucked away her phone as he approached her. He was emotionless. "Talk," he said monotonously, walking a few meters away from the living room.

"Well, I found out that the result of the spell wasn't my fault. It was hers," she said, pointing at the living room. Damon frowned. "What do you mean…?"

"I told her to think about youth. So, obviously, she thought about her childhood. But, you're supposed to think of the age you want to stay… which is why Elena is a toddler. If she had been thinking about her current age, this would have never happened."

"Well, is it reversible?"

Bonnie nodded. "It was a common mistake when doing this spell hundreds of years ago, so a fairly simple counter curse was invented. I just need to do the spell again, but this time she has to think about being eighteen."

Damon frowned. "She's three, Bonnie; how can you expect her to…?"

"Don't worry; Caroline is going to help me."

"I'm going to worry, Bonnie! I'm not just going to hand her over to you if it's risky; not to mention, the last time Caroline helped with her, she got kidnapped and attacked by a psychopath!"

Bonnie frowned. "It isn't your choice to make, Damon; Elena would want to be turned back."

"I don't care," Damon snapped. "It's dangerous, and you aren't taking her."

"Damon, she can't stay three forever and you know it! She's eighteen years old!"

"She's going to stay right here with me until you find a set in stone way to turn her back…!"

"She's not your daughter, Damon!" Bonnie snapped and Damon backed away, his eyes wide with shock. His mouth snapped shut into a firm line. Bonnie made her way towards him. "She needs to be turned back to normal. I promise you that it's safe; she can't age any more than she already has. Worst case scenario is that she ends up at a different age in her childhood."

Damon frowned, but knew he couldn't argue. "When…?"

"Right now. Caroline is waiting at my house, getting everything ready."

Damon felt his heart sink; he was going to lose her. He was really going to lose her forever…

Bonnie placed a hand on his arm. "You know it's what's best for her, Damon."

Biting his lip, he nodded. "I know it is…" he muttered.

"Then you'll agree to help me when I ask you to get her to leave with me?"

Damon's face fell, but he nodded. "Yeah…"

He walked slowly back into the living room, and Elena turned her head to look at him. She was giggling. "George is makin' a pizza, Day-min!"

He gave her a weak smile. "That's amazing, princess." She looked at him curiously as he walked over and crouched beside her, Bonnie a few meters away. "What goin' on?"

"You've got to go back to Bon Bon's house now, angel. She and Carey are going to play… witches with you."

Elena slowly shook her head. "I no wanna go."

He stroked her hair. "You have to, sweetheart. I… have to go out, and they're going to watch you."

Her lip quivered. "I go wit you…"

He shook his head. "You can't… it's a place for grownups only."

Elena started to cry, big tears streaming down her cheeks. "D-Day-min…!"

She threw herself into his arms, crying loudly, her tears muffled in his shirt. Damon held her tightly. "It will be okay," he whispered to her comfortingly. "I promise. They're going to take very good care of you. Then… then you can come back here when they're done, okay?"

Elena pulled back, her lip still quivering. "D-do you p-pinky s-swear…?"

He nodded, wrapping his pinky around hers. "I pinky swear. Don't be scared, Elena. Whatever games they play… don't be scared."

She nodded before she buried her face in his shirt again. "W-will y-you pwomise m-me one more t-ting…?"

"Of course, princess. Anything."

"W-when I c-comes back, w-will you t-tell me what h-happens to Eleanor and D-Damian?"

He gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Of course, angel. Anything you want."

She hugged him tightly around his neck, whimpering. "I w-wuv you, D-Day-min. I wuv you more den anyone in da whole w-world…"

He kissed her cheek firmly. "And I love you. I love my little princess more than anyone in the whole universe!" he said with a smile, making that pretty little smile return to her lips. She giggled. "You does?"

He nodded. "I do."

She gave him one last hug. "I see you soon, otay?"

"Of course, Elena."

She walked over to Bonnie, looking up at her. "Will you bwing me back in time for my bedtime storwy?"

Bonnie smiled and nodded, taking her hand. "I promise."

Bonnie then led Elena out of the living room, the little girl tossing Damon one last helpless glance. The door opened and closed, and Damon listened to the car drive away. He listened to it drive away, taking his little girl forever.

He stayed sitting on the floor by the couch for a very long time, silent tears trailing down his cheeks.

_**I am so sorry I didn't update yesterday; I've been super busy with school. I know that this chapter turned out a bit sad… I hadn't originally intended for it to be that way, it just kinda… happened. But we got to see just how much Damon loves little E-way-na, which I hope you all liked! More soon, I promise! Remember to review! (Also, if you like parody fics, Delena, and Disney {hehehehe} you should check out my "Enchanted" fic; it doesn't have very many reviews, and I would love to see a few more opinions. Thanks!)- Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	8. He Took Good Care of You

Elena walked, hand in hand, into Bonnie's house again, jumping in fright when Muffin, the Jack Russell Terrier, began barking his head off at her. Elena squeaked in fright and hid behind Bonnie's legs; she had never been one for dogs, no matter how small.

Bonnie shooed the small dog out the door and shut it. Caroline then poked her head out of the living room and smiled brightly when she saw that they were back. "Bonnie! Elena!" She walked out to meet them, giggling and giving Elena a smile as she crouched down beside her. "I see you like the new outfit I got for you."

Elena nodded but didn't say anything. Caroline frowned and looked up at Bonnie. "What's the matter with her?"

Elena suddenly pulled her hand from Bonnie's and darted away from them, running into the living room and crawling up onto the old green couch, burying her face in a pillow as she started to cry. Caroline's eyes widened in surprise and Bonnie bit her lip. "What happened?" Caroline gasped. Bonnie sighed. "It was a bit more… difficult getting her away from Damon than I thought it would be."

"What do you mean, difficult?" Caroline snapped. Bonnie looked at her friend. "She loves him, Caroline. I don't know what she loves him as, but she loves him. It was awful taking her away."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "She's three; she'll get over it. Just bribe her with a stupid cookie or something."

Bonnie frowned. "What has you so bitter?"

"Oh, I don't know; maybe because I took way better care of Elena than he did, yet I still get blamed for her getting taken! It wasn't my fault…!"

"_That _is what this is about?"

Caroline looked away, seeming a bit embarrassed, "It isn't fair. Damon doesn't even like kids…"

"Well, he certainly liked her."

Caroline snorted. "Only because it's _Elena…!_"

Bonnie shook her head. "Care… I really don't think it is. You and I both saw it; he was good with her. Insanely good. Damon, the vicious vampire… was a perfect father."

Caroline sighed, giving up; she couldn't argue with that. He was amazing with Elena, no matter what anyone said. "Let's just change her back, okay? I don't have anyone to vent to."

Bonnie frowned. "You can't vent to me?"

"Yeah, but it's not the same! You don't have a boyfriend who's a supernatural entity, so you don't get it. No offense," she said quickly as they walked into the living room where Elena still lay on the couch, crying into the pillow. Bonnie sat on the couch beside her and stroked her hair. "What's the matter, Elena?"

Elena just shook her head and continued to cry. Caroline waved Bonnie away. "Let me handle this," she whispered and Bonnie shrugged, moving to allow Caroline a try. "Hey, Elena," she said sympathetically, "do you want to tell Auntie Carey what's wrong?"

Elena shook her head again and hugged the pillow tighter. Caroline frowned. "Come on, Elena; we can't play witches unless you stop crying…!"

"I no wanna pway witches!" Elena shrieked, pulling her red face away from the pillow, crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks. "I w-wa-nt D-Day-m-min…!"

Caroline frowned. "Well… Damon is busy!"

Elena cried more loudly, shaking with sobs. Bonnie frowned at Caroline, "A wiz with kids, huh? Yeah, totally, Care…"

Bonnie sat beside Elena and pulled the little girl into her arms. "Elena; Caroline and I have a big girl game we really want you to play with us. Won't you play?"

Elena shook her head. "I wants D-Day-min…"

Bonnie sighed. "Damon is going to come and get you very soon. But we should play the game until he gets here! Okay?"

Slowly, Elena wiped her tears. "W-what g-game we pwaying…?"

"Magical witches. We have real witch stuff and everything!" Bonnie said and a tiny smile pulled at Elena's lips. "What does me do…?"

Bonnie grinned. "Caroline is going to help you with that. All you have to do is think about what she tells you, okay?"

Elena nodded. "Otay, Bon Bon…"

"Is everything set up in my room?" Bonnie asked and Caroline nodded. "Great," Bonnie picked Elena up, "Let's go play!"

… . … . … . … . …

Ten minutes later Elena was sitting on Bonnie's bed beside Caroline, while Bonnie sat across from her. Elena was a bit scared, because the room was dark and only candles were providing any light. Elena's lip began to wobble; she was afraid of the dark, and she wanted Damon…

Caroline noticed her expression and smiled and her, ruffling her hair. "Ready, Bonnie?" she asked and Bonnie nodded, opening the spell book to the right page. "Okay, Elena," Bonnie smiled, "you have to hold my hands and do everything Caroline tells you, even if it's a bit scary, okay? We won't let anything happen to you."

Elena nervously nodded and put her little hands in Bonnie's bigger ones. Bonnie then shut her eyes, and the candles flared up, causing Elena to squeak in shock. "It's okay, 'Lena," Caroline assured her, stroking her hair. Elena looked terrified, but didn't move. She stared in confusion and fear when Bonnie began to speak in Latin; she didn't understand what she was saying, and she didn't like it. It wasn't like when Damon spoke French; these words were scary!

"_Deae aetatis retro conversis adiuvare._"

Caroline remembered what she had to do. "Alright, Elena, now it's your turn; I want you to think about being a big girl, like me and Bonnie. Think about being eighteen years old."

Elena wasn't sure how to do that. She trembled a bit as Bonnie continued to mutter Latin under breath. "_Auxilium aetatis, auxilium eius crescere ..._"

"Elena," Caroline suddenly remembered something, " 'Lena, think about having a boyfriend like I told you about in the car! Think about," Caroline sighed; she couldn't believe she was about to say this, "Think about Damon being your boyfriend! Think about going to the big high school, and think about shopping; think the word _eighteen._"

_Think the word eighteen. _Elena nodded; she could do that. As she nervously watched Bonnie, she thought, on a loop, the word eighteen over and over, along with a few mental images of Damon.

"_Auxilium reddere memorias ..._"

Elena gasped; what was that? She had been thinking of Damon, and suddenly she was thinking about a big crow flying at her face…

Fog… her diary… Damon playing with her teddy bear… waking up beside Damon… Damon waving to her on founder's day, Damon when she woke up from the dead, Damon helping her make chili, Damon dying, Damon making her laugh, making her cry, _Damon, Damon, Damon…!_

Elena gasped as she felt the power from Bonnie's words coursing through her tiny body. She was remembering things, strange things, that would normally scare her… but they didn't. They all seemed so real, so familiar…

"_Auxilium reddere aetate, auxilium reddere magnitudine, auxilium reddere maturitatem ..._"

Elena whimpered; she felt like she was being stretched. It hurt, and she was scared, and she wanted Damon but she couldn't let go of Bonnie's hands… she couldn't _move…!_

_"__Dea aetatis, adducam Elena Gilbert retro!__" _

Bright light burst before Elena's eyes before it all became too much, and she passed out.

… . … . … . … . …

Bonnie's eyes opened when she felt the hands in her own go slack. She was afraid to look down at her bed to see what had happened. Suddenly, Caroline was laughing. "It worked!" she cried. "It's Elena! It's _our _Elena! Bonnie, you did it!"

Bonnie looked down and heaved a sigh of relief; lying on her bed before her was eighteen year old Elena Gilbert, somehow dressed in a more mature copy of the outfit she had been wearing. The t-shirt was now a midnight blue blouse, along with a pair of black skinny jeans, and the sneakers had traded themselves in for a shiny pair of black pumps. Bonnie wasn't entirely sure how the clothes situation worked, but it had. And Elena was back. "It says she'll wake up in a few hours."

"Is she going to be okay? Normal?" Caroline asked nervously as she watched her sleeping friend.

Bonnie nodded but bit her lip. "Totally normal. As if… the past two days never even happened."

Caroline frowned. "You mean she won't…?"

"Remember any part of being three again? Of Damon taking care of her? Nope; nothing. When she wakes up, she'll be the same old Elena."

Caroline bit her lip. "Damon's going to be heartbroken."

Bonnie bit her lip as well before a small grin tugged at her lips. "Maybe he won't be."

Caroline frowned. "What do you mean? She won't remember how much she loved him as a little kid; she'll still be in love with Stefan."

Bonnie glanced at Caroline, "You heard her scream Damon's name before she passed out, right?" Caroline nodded. Bonnie sighed and pulled out her cellphone. "She loves him, Care. She loves him whether or not she wants to admit it; so we'll just have to show her this."

Bonnie began to play the video she had taken with her phone of Damon and Elena earlier that day, and Caroline's eyes widened. "Oh, my gosh…"

Bonnie nodded. "There is no way Elena can watch this and say she doesn't care about him. If anything, the fact that he took such good care of her will only make her love him more."

Caroline frowned, suddenly confused, "Wait, wait, wait; why are we suddenly helping Damon win Elena? Isn't that kind of going against everything you and I both believe is best for her…?"

Bonnie gave a small smile. "After all he did… don't you think Damon deserves a bit of happiness, too?"

Caroline bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

… . … . … . … . …

Elena woke slowly, rubbing her head. Where was she? She sat up and looked around; she was in Bonnie's bed. Right; she had slept over after they practiced a few spells. Elena frowned in confusion when she couldn't remember what they had done last night. She didn't feel hung over, so drinking didn't seem to be the culprit of her temporary memory loss. Getting out of bed, she raised an eyebrow to realize she was still fully clothed; and not in what she had worn to Bonnie's. In fact, she had never seen this outfit before in her life. "Bonnie?" she called as she exited the room and rushed down the stairs. "Bonnie, what happened last night…? Oh; hey, Caroline… what's going on?"

Elena walked over to the kitchen table, where the two girls sat, smiling. "Hey, Elena," Caroline smiled and Bonnie grinned. "Come here; I'll show you."

Frowning in confusion, Elena walked over to where Bonnie sat and sat beside her, taking the cellphone Bonnie offered. She hit the play button on the video Bonnie wanted her to watch, and sat back, her confusion growing even more. Was that… Damon?

"_How about Dora?_"

"_Dor-wa is for babies._"

Elena squinted and her eyes widened in shock when she realized what she was watching. "Is that Damon… with a toddler?"

"Yup," Caroline grinned.

Elena looked at them both, horribly confused. "Who is she?"

Bonnie smiled. "You," she said, and Elena frowned. "I'm serious guys; who's the kid?"

Caroline grinned. "If you don't believe us, keep watching."

Frowning Elena looked back down at the phone.

"_I goin' to miss you, too, Day-min. I wuvs you."_

"_I love you more._"

The video stopped and Elena tried to process what she had just seen. It made no sense. That couldn't be _her; _it was impossible! "What is going on?" Elena asked, attempting to rub away the headache she was suddenly developing. Bonnie sighed. "You remember coming over to practice a few spells with me, right?"

Elena nodded. "I can remember getting something to drink, and then we went into the living room… you were doing some kind of anti-aging spell on me… then nothing… oh, my God…" Elena's eyes widened; an _anti-aging spell gone wrong. _It wasn't some crazy lie! She turned her stunned eyes up to Bonnie and Caroline. "I was honestly a three year old, wasn't I?"

The girls nodded.

"Why don't I remember what happened?"

"It's a side effect of the counter spell; you don't remember anything that happened while under the curse."

Elena immediately began to replay the video. "Why was I with Damon?"

"I got him to take care of you while I found the counter curse. He was… really good with you, Elena."

She watched the video over and over in disbelief. "Yeah, I can… I can see that."

_I wuv you, Day-min. I wuv you. I wuv you… _

She had confessed that she loved him. She had been a three year old, but she had done it. So… if a three year old could do it then…?

Elena paled; where was Damon now? "Where's Damon?" she asked.

Bonnie bit her lip. "Maybe still at the boarding house; he was really upset when I took you to turn you back. He… got a little attached to mini-you."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oh, please; he wasn't just attached, he loved her! It was like having his own daughter, and we took it away from him."

Elena felt horrible; if what they said was true, Damon would be in a not-so-stable condition as they spoke. She played the video again, and found herself smiling. He really was good with kids. He was good with _her. _She couldn't help finding this side of him adorable, and wished she could remember what happened. She turned off Bonnie's phone and gave it back to her. "I need to go see him."

"What are you going to do?" Caroline asked as Elena stood up and grabbed her purse, starting for the door. Elena smiled a bit. "I'm going to thank him for taking care of me."

_**I'm sorry for cutting it off there; it's just that it's getting really late, and I wanted to update this story and don't have time to write a whole lot more tonight… mainly because I'm still trying to process that TVD is going on hiatus… AGAIN! March 15**__**th**__**? That's ten days before my birthday, and nearly a month away! So not cool… especially when the next episode is going to have Damon flashbacks… curly hair is always welcome on my TV screen… ;) Anyhoo, I promise to update soon; there's going to be a big twist coming up in the next few chapters! Until then, dear readers- Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	9. A Much Awaited Conversation

Damon rubbed his head as he sat on the leather couch in the living room and took another long drink straight from the crystal bottle of bourbon in his hand, savoring the burn as it slipped down his throat. He had been terrified after Bonnie took Elena away, fearing that something bad may happen to her. He was sitting on the couch, wallowing in misery when he heard the car pulling up the driveway. He frowned and put down the bottle of bourbon; who would come to bother him at a time like this? He waited a few minutes, and there was a knock on the door. He stood up and walked to the front door, pulling it open. His eyes widened when he realized who it was.

"Elena," he croaked in surprise and she gave him a small smile; he looked awful. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were rumpled. Clearly he had been drinking.

"Hey," she said, "How are you?"

He was speechless. Bonnie's spell worked. Elena was… back to normal. But then what was she doing here? "I'm… fine," he said, feeling his heart sinking. So, that was it. His little girl really was gone.

"Can I come in?" she asked and he nodded, stepping aside. Elena walked in and Damon shut the door. Elena bit her lip; what exactly was she going to say to him?

"So… Bonnie showed me a video a little while ago."

He nodded. "That's fascinating," he said, pouring himself another drink. "It was," she agreed, walking over to stand beside him. "You were in it."

Damon frowned, looking at her. "What?"

"You were in it. Bonnie said she took it this morning of you… and me."

Damon's eyes widened as he remembered Bonnie having put away her cellphone when he walked over to her earlier that morning. She had filmed him with Elena. But… why?

"You… saw it?"

Elena nodded.

"What… what did you think?"

She gave him a small smile. "I think it was extremely adorable."

Damon looked up at her in surprise. "You did…?"

She touched his arm, smiling softly at him. "I came here to thank you…" she grinned, "for taking care of me. Not many people would have."

He grinned at her. "Yes, they would; you were adorable."

She giggled. "You know, I didn't know you were so good with kids."

He smiled weakly. "I think the fact that you were adorable helped."

She smiled and reached up to brush some hair out of her eyes, biting her lip. "You look awful."

He frowned and looked down, seeming guilty. "I know… I guess I kind of… lost it."

"Why?" she asked, sitting down on the couch. Damon sat beside her and ran a hand through his inky hair. "When Bonnie took you away… I was terrified that something was going to go wrong. That something could happen to you… I broke down. Elena," he stared at her intently, "you were so upset that you had to leave… it killed me to watch you go. I know it was for the best, but a part of me…" he shook his head, looking at the floor. Elena placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling that she understood. "A part of you is going to miss that little girl that walked out of here with Bonnie?"

Guilty, Damon nodded. "I know it's stupid, and it makes me seem like an idiot… but I… she was… you were…" he shook his head, unsure of how to word it. She laid her head on his shoulder. "Like… having a daughter?"

Biting his lip, Damon nodded. "Elena, I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be sorry," she said quietly. "I understand. It was like you were getting something you thought you would never have… and then having it be taken away from you."

"Yeah…" he nodded, looking at her, "It was."

She smiled at him. "Well, she's not really _gone,_" Elena laced her fingers through his. "You still have me."

He frowned. "But… I don't." Elena frowned at him. "What…?"

"Elena, I don't have you! I'll never have you! You aren't _mine _to have!"

The agony was back on his features, and he pulled his hand out of his, staring straight ahead.

"Damon…!"

"_It's always going to be Stefan!_"

Damon was breaking down, and Elena was getting scared. He was shaking, his face contorted into a painful grimace, his eyes wide with hurt and loneliness. "Damon, listen to me…" Elena tried and he shook his head. "Don't you get it?" he snapped. "If I even start to hope that you'll ever want _me, _I'm just setting myself up to be crushed; again! Katherine never loved me; I've accepted that. But you; you make me wonder. One second you hate me, the next we're friends, and then you're acting like you want more. But all the time it's always my brother who you want. It's always my brother! Why doesn't anyone ever love me, Elena? Am I that terrible of a person?"

"No!" Elena cried, shaking her head. "No; Damon, that's not true…"

"But it is," he moaned, slumping in his seat. "Nobody loves me… only a freaking three year old version of you loved me, and that was just because she didn't know who Stefan was…"

"Damon, that's not true," she snapped and he looked up at her. "That's not true and you know it. I may not be able to remember what happened between us while I was like that, but I know that if I said that I loved you, then I really did love you! Not because I didn't have Stefan, either; it was because you were sweet, and kind, and you cared about me! _You _made me love you. Everything you do made me love you even more, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't have Stefan anymore…"

"Elena…?"

"It's true; I hated you. I wanted you gone more than he did. But things change, Damon! People change. _You _changed. When you found out that Katherine didn't love you… you were broken. You were hurt, and upset… and I felt horrible for you. All I wanted to do was make you feel better… all I still want to do is make you feel better. Whenever I need you, you're always there… even when I'm a freaking three year old! Damon, I want to do for you what you've done for me. I want to make you feel wanted…" she met his eyes, "I want to love you."

Damon didn't know what to say. Elena reached over and ran a hand through his hair. "You don't have to be alone anymore, Damon. I promise that I'll never leave you."

A thousand emotions were shining in his eyes as she firmly grasped his hand.

"I love you, Damon Salvatore, and I will never hurt you ever again," she moved closer to him and said, firmly, "_I love you._"

Damon's eyes widened in surprise when Elena firmly pressed her lips to his. Immediately he grabbed her face and pulled her closer, kissing her with all of the passion he could muster. He pulled away, tears shining in his eyes. "God, I love you…" he whispered, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs as he cradled her face. She gave a teary laugh and kissed him again, and he kissed her back, his lips smiling beneath hers.

As their lips moved in perfect synchronization with each other's, all of the pent up emotion that had been building up over the last few months began to spill out and Damon lowered Elena onto the leather couch beneath him, moving his mouth away from hers so that she could breath, choosing instead to place soft kisses to her throat and along her collar bone. He suddenly chuckled and Elena, who was breathless and a bit stunned, managed to get out, "What…?" between her rapid breathing.

He chuckled again as he fingered the soft material of her blouse. "We match," he said, smiling at her as though he was enjoying some kind of private joke. Elena smiled, not entirely sure what was so funny. "We do, don't we?"

He chuckled and kissed her lips again, Elena kissing him back. She couldn't help but wonder why she had resisted him for so long. Damon was sweet, and passionate, and he _loved her. _Whereas Stefan's love for her had somewhat been instant, and almost a bit too fast, she had developed a close friendship with Damon before any other feelings began to appear. As their friendship grew, so did her feelings for him. As did his for her, the way true love was supposed to be. It had built over months, and that seemed to have only made it stronger. Now that it was finally being acknowledged…

_Elena wanted him._

"Damon…" she whispered as he kissed he throat. "Mm…?" he mumbled, continuing to kiss her. Elena ran her fingers through his hair and down his back and Damon growled hungrily when her hands slipped under his shirt. "Elena…" he said, pulling back to look into her eyes, which were burning with desire. Slowly, knowing what he was asking, she nodded. She wanted him, and wanted him to know just how much she loved him.

"I want you," she whispered and Damon smiled; it was a genuine smile. Not a smirk, not a cocky grin, it was a genuinely happy, blissful smile. Bending down he kissed her lips once more, before she suddenly found herself in Damon's strong arms, being whisked up to his bedroom.

_**A/N: In case you were wondering, Delena happening for real is NOT the big twist I was hinting at; it's certainly a major part leading up to it, but there's something far more shocking to come within the next few chapters. Also, I had to rewrite this three times before it felt right… did I do okay? I need your opinions, which I value very much when it comes to my writing! Please remember to review! XOXO-Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	10. Ellie

_**Be prepared, dear readers; it's finally here! The major twist in the story that will change the lives of Damon and Elena forever! Are you ready for it? Are you really ready for it? If so, read on!**_

"I don't think you know just how beautiful you are,"

It was late, and the only light in Damon's bedroom was the soft orange light being produced by his bedside lamp. Elena lay in his bed beside him wrapped only in the shirt he had been wearing earlier that day, and her underwear. She smiled at him from the pillow her head was lying on. "I don't think you know just how sweet you are," she said softly, and he chuckled, trailing his fingers down her spine. "I can be very sweet when I want to be," he purred, placing a soft kiss to her forehead. She smiled and moved closer to him, nuzzling her head into his muscled bare chest as he rubbed relaxing circles into her back through his shirt.

She blinked a few times as she thought. "I don't know why I waited so long," she said quietly, looking up into his blue eyes, "for this; for you."

He smiled, kissing her nose. "No harm done, angel," he said and she smiled, kissing him. When he pulled away she smiled at him, suddenly feeling a strange nostalgic sensation. "Sing to me," she whispered and Damon frowned, his eyes widening a bit. "What…?"

She shook her head, seeming a bit lost in thought. "I… I'm not sure why I said that. It just... this seems... familiar. Like I've been here before, with you... and wanted you to… sing to me."

He blinked a few times, confused; she had told him that she didn't remember anything from when she was three. So… why was she asking him to sing to her, like she had the night she suffered from that horrible nightmare? "When you were under the spell, you had a nightmare. Well, it was a memory, really; you dreamed about when your parents died. You were upset, so… I sang to you."

A small smile tugged at her lips. "Really?"

He nodded. "It was just an old lullaby that my mother used to sing to me and Stefan when we were kids…" Damon chuckled. "It was in French; it fascinated you."

Elena giggled. "You sang me a French lullaby?"

He nodded, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears. "I also told you a story; it wasn't very creative… I just kind of took everything that's ever happened to us, changed the names and turned it into a fairy tale. You loved it."

Elena smiled at him, astonished yet again by how good he had been with her when she was a baby. Damon had never seemed like the kind of guy who would like kids… but, then again, he was Damon Salvatore; he never ceased to surprise her.

"I didn't know you sang," she said thoughtfully and he grinned. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Elena."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to stick around and find out, won't I?" she said with a grin and he smiled. "You most certainly will."

He had been leaning in to give her another kiss when a loud knocking on the door downstairs caused them both to pause. Elena frowned. "Where you expecting someone?"

He shook his head, frowning. "No… no, the only thing I was expecting was to wallow in self-pity all day," he grinned at her again, "Although I'm very glad it didn't turn out that way…"

Elena giggled; surely whoever it was would just come back later…

Damon had just taken her lips in his once again when there was suddenly a clap of thunder that nearly caused the entire house to shake. Rain began to pour down in buckets on the roof, and with a loud sound of electricity being cut off, all of the lights in the house flashed off, plunging them into complete blackness.

"_Shit…_" Damon hissed, sitting up. Elena sat up with him, biting her lip as she listened to the wind howling outside. "Was there supposed to be a storm tonight?" she said, unsure. Damon shook his head. "Nope," he said, and plopped back down into the pillows, holding his arms out for her. Elena smiled at him and moved to lie back down on his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, kissing her hair. Elena suddenly bit her lip. "Jeremy," she muttered. "He doesn't know where I am… and I don't think Ric is home, either… I should go call him."

"It's just a storm, Elena; he's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Elena shook her head. "It will only take a few minutes…"

He sighed and released her. "Do you need my cell?"

She shook her head. "I've got my phone in my purse downstairs."

Damon sat up as she got out of the bed and started for the door. "Wait a second," he said, opening the drawer to his bedside table and pulling out a small flashlight, tossing it to her. She caught it and he grinned. "Just to make sure you don't fall down the stairs in the dark," he said and she giggled, walking back over and giving him a quick kiss. "Thanks," she said, turning and exiting the room, turning on the flashlight. It was clearly an expensive, newer one because it was LED, and the blue light coming from it nearly lit the entire floor as she made her way over to the stairs. She quickly ran down and into the parlor, grabbing her purse up from the floor where it had fallen when she and Damon had…

Elena giggled and picked it up, fishing out her phone and quickly dialing Jeremy's number. He picked it up on the second ring. "_What the hell, Elena?_" he cried, clearly freaking out. "_Where have you been? I've been trying to call you for nearly four days, but no one has answered me! Where the hell are you…?_"

"Relax, Jer; I'm fine. I was at Bonnie's, practicing spells, and she… sort of messed up. But everything is fine now."

"_Well are you still there?"_

"I'm with Damon. Look, just calm down, okay? I'm perfectly fine, and I'll be home tomorrow; I promise. I just called to make sure that _you _were okay. This freak storm just struck, and all of the power went out," Elena said and heard Jeremy sighed. "_Same here; it's so weird. We weren't even supposed to get any rain; this is bordering a hurricane!_"

"Is Ric with you?" Elena asked.

"_Mm-hm; everything is fine here."_

"Good, I just…"

Elena suddenly trailed off, frowning; what was _that? _She had been listening to Jeremy's reply when she suddenly heard something outside. It wasn't rain, or wind, or thunder; it had sounded like… crying? "Jer, I have to go. I'll be home tomorrow once the weather clears up, okay?"

"_Sure. Be careful, alright?"_

Elena nodded to herself. "Yeah… yeah, I will. Goodnight, Jer,"

"_Night._"

She hung up her phone and sat it down, listening intently. For a moment she began to think she was hearing things until the sound came again. Yes, it was definitely crying; loud, terrified crying coming from outside the front door. It didn't sound like an animal, either. It sounded like…

_It sounded like a baby. _

Eyes wide, Elena ran to the front door and pulled it open, gasping when she looked down, "Oh, my God; _Damon!_"

Damon heard her call and was down the stairs in a flash, finding her crouched before the open door, grabbing something. "What are you doing?" he called over the roar of the storm outside. Elena straightened out and allowed him to shut the door again. "Elena, are you crazy? It's a hurricane out there! Something could have blown inside and hit you…!"

He trailed off when the unmistakable sound of crying filled the house and his eyes widened. "What…?" he hissed, and his blue eyes widened in stunned shock when Elena turned to face him, holding a tiny bundle of faded pink blankets. "_Is that what I think it is?"_ he hissed to her and she slowly nodded. "It's… a baby," she whispered, staring down at the crying infant in her arms in disbelief. Damon was even more stunned then she was. _Someone had left a __**baby **__on his doorstep during a hurricane? _

Elena walked over to the leather sofa and sat down, hushing the terrified little baby in her arms. "She's so little…" she whispered, unable to believe that someone would leave such a young, helpless little baby on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night. Not to mention, it was during a horrible storm. Elena gulped, horrified of what may have happened if she hadn't come down to call Jeremy, and heard it crying…

"There's something tucked in the blankets," Damon said quietly, and Elena noticed it, too. Pulling out the small, wet piece of paper she read aloud, "_Her name is Ellie. She's six weeks old and we are unable to care for her any longer. We've been watching you with your own daughter, and believe you would be a suitable substitute…" _Elena trailed off with her eyes wide as she turned to look up at Damon, whose lips were pressed together in a thin, disbelieving white line. She turned back to the note and read the last few lines. "_Please take care of her; she needs a loving family; one that we cannot provide for her."_

The small baby, who had stopped crying and was now huddling closer to Elena's warmth, had been left for Damon. Someone had been _watching him with Elena, and now they expected him to just take in their abandoned child…?_

"How is this even _happening?_" he hissed and Elena shook her head. "I have no idea. But we need dry blankets. These are soaked and freezing…"

Damon was gone and back in a flash, holding a thick white blanket in his hands. Elena got rid of the spindly pink blanket, tossing it aside to discover that the small baby girl was wearing nothing beneath it. "Oh, my God…" she whispered, feeling the little girl's icy skin. "Damon…"

Elena turned her eyes up to meet his and he promptly took the shivering infant from her, wrapping it in the blankets and holding her close, supporting her head. "There's a bag of clothes that Caroline brought for you; they'll be too big, but it's all we have to work with for now…"

Elena jumped up and grabbed the flashlight, dashing back up the stairs and into the spare room. Meanwhile, Damon sat down on the couch and held the tiny baby close, wrapping the blankets more securely around her in attempt to warm her icy skin. He noticed that her eyes were a watery shade of violet-blue, and that she had barely visible blonde hair beginning to grow. She was small and frail and clearly not fed often enough. She was just so _tiny…_

"Here," Elena said, sitting beside him with the bag in her hands. She pulled out a pair of pink footy pajamas and Damon shook his head. "Wait a few minutes until she's warm…" he said quietly, rocking the baby in his arms. Despite her best efforts, a small smile pulled at the corner of Elena's lips as she watched him rock the little girl to sleep. So this was what Damon was _really _like with children. She so desperately wished she could remember what had happened between them…

Elena reached over and stroked the little girl's cheek with the back of her index finger, smiling softly. "She's beautiful," she whispered. Damon nodded a bit his lip, turning to look at Elena. "What are we going to do with her?"

Elena looked wonderingly at the little girl in Damon's arms. She could tell, just from the way he had spoken of his time with her three year old self, and from the way that he was holding the baby that he wanted nothing more than to have that small piece of humanity that he had missed out on. To really be a father… "Why don't we take care of her?"

Damon looked up at Elena's whispered words. "What…?"

"Like the note said. Damon, they watched us together. Whoever her parents are, they saw how good you were with me… and they wanted that for her. Obviously, they couldn't do it… so why shouldn't you?"

Damon bit his lip and shook his head as he looked at the baby in his arms. "Elena, I can't…"

She frowned. "Look at me," she said, and he looked up again. "Look at me and tell me that you honestly don't want this. That you don't want to be a father, and to have a family… Damon, I know that you do. You're being given a chance that you will likely never get ever again! So take it."

He was still shaking his head. "I can't do it on my own, Elena… I barely managed two days with you on my own…"

"You won't be doing it on your own," she said quietly and he looked up at her disbelievingly. "Damon, I said that _we _should take care of her. We meaning you _and _me."

Damon couldn't believe it. "Are you… are you serious…?"

She nodded, a smile pulling at her lips. "Damon… I want to be with you. But we both know that if I am… I can never have kids of my own. This gives us the perfect opportunity… to have both."

A smile was growing on Damon's lips. "You mean… you really want this…?"

She nodded, smiling as well. "I do. She needs us, Damon, and you would be the perfect father… she needs _you._"

He beamed. "What's a father without a mother?"

Elena was beaming as well. "So it's settled, then? From now on, it's you, me…"

"And little Ellie," Damon finished, smiling at the sleeping baby he was holding. Elena curled up beside him and took the little baby's now warm hand in her own, smiling.

"Ellie Salvatore…" he whispered, beaming. It was perfect. His life was completely perfect. He had Elena, whom he had thought he could never possibly win. But she loved him. She had loved him all this time… and now they had a baby. A little angel of their own…

Everything was perfect. The rain continued to pour and the wind continued to howl outside, but Damon didn't even care if the world was crumbling around him; he had the two most precious things in the world right there with him. He had the woman he loved… _and he had his little girl. _

_**Ellie Salvatore! :D So, what do you all think? I know, I know; it's likely not what you expected the twist to be... but I hope you liked it! Now that the twist is out in the open... what did you all think it was going to be before you read it? I really want to know what you were all thinking; your ideas always facinate me, and tend to inspire a lot of the things that happen in the chapters (which I thank you immensely for!). Don't worry, either; it's not over yet! I still have a few ideas to throw together a few more chapters. Also, if you ever have a suggestion, feel free to send it to me! I always love to hear your ideas. :) Thank you all so much for reading, and remember to review!- Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	11. Love and Fear

Just like clockwork, as soon as three a.m. struck, so did the wailing; the loud, unstoppable crying that echoed throughout the cavernous boarding house. It had been two weeks since Ellie was left on their doorstep, and neither Elena nor Damon could remember a period of time when either of them had been so sleep deprived.

Elena buried her face in her pillow, moaning. "Damon; baby," she mumbled. He put his own pillow over his head as he lay beside her. "Elena; your turn," he mimicked her tone. She whimpered and pulled the pillow from his head, pouting. She snuggled closer to him. "But I'm human," she said, "I need sleep more than you do. You don't want me to die of sleep deprivation, do you?"

He frowned at her. "You're evil, do you know that?"

She smiled softly, knowing she had won. "Thank you," she said, kissing his lips quickly before snuggling back into the pillows and shutting her eyes. Sighing, Damon got out of bed and walked out of the room, walking down the hall and into the room beside his, or rather, _their _room; Elena had practically moved in after the hurricane, what with school being wiped out because of flooding. The roads were so terrible that she hadn't even been able to drive home yet. In a way, it was a blessing; they still hadn't figured out how to break the news to everyone that they had taken on a newborn.

Damon opened the bedroom door and walked into the partially lit room, walking over to the crib they had dug up from the attic (you'd be surprised what they had up there) and looking down at the red faced baby before him. He sighed and reached in, picking her up and holding her close. "Hey, Ellie Bear…" he said to her, walking around the room in attempt to calm her down. She continued to cry into his shoulder and he walked over to the old rocker in the corner, sitting down and rubbing her back. "Are you hungry, princess?" he whispered to her, and she continued to cry. He took that as a yes and grabbed the bottle that he and Elena left in the warmer overnight, testing it before gently giving it to her. She drank hungrily and Damon chuckled as he rocked and fed her. When she wasn't crying, she was adorable. But sadly, that hardly ever occurred. Either she was tired, needed to be changed, was hungry, or all of them at once; which meant she cried nearly 24/7.

Damon grinned as Ellie stopped drinking; she seemed to have fallen asleep again snuggled into his chest. He figured it would be best to just sit there with her for a while, as opposed to moving and waking her up again, thus waking Elena… again. The more he thought about it, the more grateful he was that he hadn't had children as a human. If it was difficult for a vampire to go on little sleep, he likely would have shut down by now if he were still human.

Had anyone from his troubled past seen him at that very moment, rocking a little girl to sleep, they would never have believed it was the same man. After all, it didn't make sense that the monster that had killed so many, ruined the lives of so many, and tortured just for the fun of it to be compassionate, did it? Even if it didn't, Damon could care less. It had only been two weeks and already he was fiercely protective of the little miracle in his arms; if anyone ever tried to hurt her, they would be dead before the thought finished occurring to them. There was no way in hell he was _ever _going to allow a repeat of the Elena-Park incident. Damon tightened his arms around Ellie a bit at the thought, placing a protective kiss to her soft cheek, inhaling her scent. He didn't notice that Elena had been standing in the doorway for a few moments, simply watching him. She smiled and walked into the room, causing Damon to look up and frown in confusion. "What are you doing up? You begged me to come take care of her so that you could sleep…"

"And miss out on an adorable Daddy Damon moment?" Elena grinned, snaking her arms around his neck from behind and kissing his cheek. "_Never._"

He chuckled. "She was hungry," he explained and Elena nodded. "I figured she might be," she said and they both smiled at Ellie, who burrowed closer to Damon's warmth. He bit his lip, their least favorite topic surfacing in his mind. "We still have no idea how we're going to tell everyone," he said and Elena moaned, burying her face in his shoulder. "Can't we just… not tell them? It would be so much easier…"

"Not tell them? And have to hide an eight week old baby every time someone comes over?" he asked skeptically and Elena sighed. "It's just… it's going to be enough of a shock to them when I tell them about _us… _throwing Ellie into the mix might kill them all from shock."

Damon grinned. "Well, at least if they're all dead they can't freak out at us."

"_Damon,_" Elena chided, giggling and shaking her head. "You're terrible."

He grinned at her. "Still love me?" She giggled. "Of course I do…" she said, giving him a lingering kiss. Damon grinned when she pulled away and Elena smiled. He bit his lip at the drooping of her eyelids, and the bags beneath her eyes. "You're exhausted," he stated and she shrugged. "I'm fine; it's just taking a bit of getting used to."

Damon stood up and walked over to the crib, gently laying Ellie down before walking over to Elena. He grinned and scooped her up. "Want me to rock you to sleep, too?" he asked and she giggled, snuggling into his chest. "I'm not three anymore, Damon," she said with a yawn and he bit his lip. "I know," he said as he walked over of the room and back to their own, where he placed her back in bed and got in next to her. She snuggled into his arms, yawning once again. "Who do you like better," she asked a bit drowsily. "Me, or E-way-na?" she asked, grinning at the lisp she used; Damon had informed her of everything that had happened while she had been three, and Elena found her own lispy voice hilarious, since she couldn't recall ever having a lisp before. "Well, that's not very fair," Damon scolded lightly, nuzzling his nose into her hair. "How can I choose between my little princess, and my queen?"

Elena sighed. "Do you miss it? Having me be a three year old?"

He chuckled. "I suppose; but I couldn't do _this _if you were a three year old," he said, rolling her beneath him and beginning to place soft kisses along her collar bone and up her neck, nuzzling at the sensitive spot beneath her ear. She sighed contently, enjoying having him close to her. "I guess you couldn't," she said, smiling at him.

"I certainly couldn't do _this _if you were a three year old…" he said, bending down and capturing her lips in his own, his hands running down her arms, causing goose bumps to rise on her flesh. "And there was no way in hell I could do _this _if you were only three," he said, wrapping her legs around his waist and sliding his hand up her shirt. Elena gasped as his cool fingers roamed around on her skin and she shivered, bringing his lips back down to hers in a rather hungry kiss. Damon growled and kissed her back with equal passion. He had just begun to tug off her sweat pants when suddenly…

Loud wailing sounded from the room next to theirs and Damon snarled in frustration, rolling onto his back and grabbing his pillow, shoving it over his face. Whether to drown out the noise or suffocate himself, he wasn't sure. "It's your turn," he said blandly and Elena sighed, slowly getting out of the bed, finding her legs were in a rather jelly state from Damon's seduction. _Damn it, _she thought, shooting a longing glance at the man, whose face was still covered with a pillow, in the bed. _Maybe tomorrow night, _she thought with a roll of her eyes and walked out of the bedroom.

… . … . … . … . …

Damon woke up the next morning to blissful silence. He had to admit, it was a bit odd, but he wasn't about to complain. Grinning, he rolled over to wrap his arms around Elena. "Good morning, beau… Elena?"

His blue eyes snapped open in confusion when he found her side of the bed empty. "Elena?" he called, getting out of bed and poking his head out the door. He walked down the stairs, and grinned when he found her curled up in one of the leather arm chairs with Ellie in her arms, feeding her a bottle. He leaned against the doorway and watched her, smiling. She was so good with her; it only took a matter of seconds after Elena picked her up to get her to stop crying. He had no idea how she did it, but it was amazing. Deciding to break the silence, Damon entered the parlor and walked over to her, kissing her cheek. "Good morning," he said and she smiled at him. "Good morning to you, too," she said, giving him a quick kiss before returning her attention to Ellie. Damon straightened out and started for the kitchen. "Do you want breakfast?" he called to Elena. "Sure," she replied and he pulled a carton of eggs and some bacon out of the refrigerator. He had just put everything into a few pans when his cell phone rang. Frowning he walked across the room and picked it up off the counter, his frown deepening when he didn't recognize the number. He pressed accept and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, brother,"

Damon frowned. "Stefan," he said quietly so Elena wouldn't hear. Stefan laughed. "I think that was a fairly decent impression of you, don't you?"

Damon glared as he pushed the eggs around in their pan to keep them from burning. "What do you want?" he snapped. "Oh, I was just wondering how my favorite brother was doing?"

Damon rolled his eyes and slapped the spatula down, clutching the phone furiously. "_What the hell do you want, Stefan?_"

"Okay, okay; I was going to tell you that I'll be back in Mystic Falls by nightfall."

Damon's jaw went slack in shock as his eyes widened. "You… _what…?_"

"What, you don't want me home? Having too much fun with my girlfriend without me, Big Brother?"

Damon swallowed roughly. "Stefan, I swear, if you do _anything _stupid…"

"Oh, don't worry; my plans are far from stupid, Damon; devious, maybe, but never stupid."

With that, the line went dead and Damon held the phone to his ear for another minute. Elena walked in with Ellie in her arms, and frowned in confusion when she saw him with the phone to his ear. "Damon," she said, bringing him back to reality. His eyes snapped up to her and he quickly hung up his phone. "What?"

"Is… everything okay?" she asked a bit nervously. Damon walked over to her, glancing down at Ellie in her arms, as well. He knew he had to protect them. But he couldn't do it alone.

Frowning, he met Elena's worried brown eyes. "That was Stefan," he said a bit hoarsely. "He said that he's going to be here by nightfall tonight."

Elena's eyes widened. "No. No, he can't…" she said, holding Ellie tighter in fear. Damon closed the distance between them, pulling both of them protectively into his arms. "Nothing is going to happen," he whispered to her, kissing her cheek, "I promise. But we need to tell the others, Elena; we need their help if we're going to control Stefan."

Tears sparkling in her eyes, Elena nodded. "Hey," Damon whispered, tilting her chin up so that she had to look at him. "Don't be scared, okay? _Nothing _is going to happen to you, or to Ellie. Not as long as I'm here."

She nodded and he wiped away her tears, kissing her forehead. "I'll always protect you, Elena," he whispered to her, holding her firmly. "_Always._"


	12. Allies

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting a call from you. How's my favorite boy toy doing?"

Damon frowned as he listened to Katherine answer her phone on the other end. He couldn't believe he was doing this… but he was desperate. "How far are you from Mystic Falls?"

"Oh, I could be lounging on a sandy beach, or skiing in the Alps; why?"

Damon sighed, glancing nervously out the window at the grey, cloudy sky outside. "Because we have a problem," he said. Katherine laughed. "Damon, you live in Mystic Falls; when _isn't _there a problem?"

"Katherine, this is serious! I'm not in the mood for your stupid jokes."

"Ooh, you're tense; I'm assuming it concerns Elena?"

Damon sat on his bed, running his hand through his hair and sighing. "Not just Elena," he said.

"Well, who else could be involved that would have you so desperate that you would call _me? _Vampire Barbie? Witchy? Ooh; is it my homecoming date?"

Damon was beginning to seriously regret calling. How in hell was he going to explain to _Katherine _that he and Elena were taking care of a baby? She would never help him; she would laugh, say he was going soft, and hang up after making some sort of witty remark. "Never mind; you obviously don't want to help…"

"I never said that; tell me, now I'm curious," Katherine replied. Damon was silent for a moment before he said, quietly, "I have a baby."

Katherine was dead silent. Damon was starting to think the connection had been lost when she responded, "You _what?_"

"A baby, Katherine! A tiny, adorable, human baby girl who can't take care of herself without me and Elena. She was left on my doorstep two weeks ago during a hurricane, and we took her in. But things have taken a turn for the worst. Go ahead, mock me; I know how badly you want to."

Katherine was silent. Quietly, she replied, "I'm not going to mock you, Damon."

Damon frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "What…?"

"I lost my baby when I was eighteen years old. She was taken away from me, and I was never the same. I never even got to hold her."

Damon was silent now; Katherine had never before told him that story. He wasn't sure she had told anyone that story. "That would explain how Elena exists," he said simply, and Katherine sighed. "Damon, listen to me; I know what it's like to lose your baby. As much as I may dislike her, I won't let Elena go through the same type of pain. I'll be in Mystic Falls in a few hours. What's your problem exactly?"

Damon sighed, "Stefan."

"Stefan? What do you mean, _Stefan…?_"

"Stefan called me this morning; he's going to be back in town by nightfall, and he sounds like he has some kind of _devious plan. _With Stefan, devious means dangerous. I won't let him hurt them, Katherine. I refuse to let him touch either of them, especially Ellie."

"Ellie?" Katherine asked curiously.

"The baby; her name is Ellie."

"Right; don't worry, I'll be there. Stefan won't hurt her."

Damon sighed and shut his eyes, a bit of relief washing over him; having Katherine on his side would definitely be useful. "Thank you, Katherine."

"Whatever; don't think this means I'm going soft. I still hate your girlfriend."

Damon chuckled a bit. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

"Good," Katherine replied before hanging up.

Hanging up his own cell phone, he put it in his pocket and exited his bedroom, walking down the stairs to where Elena was talking with Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, and Alaric. Ellie was taking her nap, which made the situation perfect; break the news to them one at a time. Maybe they wouldn't be as shocked that way.

"_You're kidding, right?"_ a voice in Damon's head laughed at him, "_This is gossipy vampire Barbie, judgy the judgemental witch, Elena's yearning ex-boyfriend, and her semi-father replacement figure. If they aren't shocked, I will be._

Currently, Elena was explaining the situation at hand; Stefan's return.

"What are we supposed to do?" Alaric asked from one of the leather arm chairs in the parlor. "All we know is he's going to be here 'by nightfall'. How are we supposed to know when to expect him, let alone what to expect?"

"Katherine's coming," Damon said as he entered the room and stood by Elena's side.

"Katherine?" Caroline sneered from the couch she sat on between Matt and Bonnie. "Why the hell is she coming…?"

"Well, seeing as though my evil ripper brother is coming to town, I think we need all the help we can get; no matter how bitchy they are."

"Well," Caroline stood up and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest, "we might as well go undagger Rebekah, too, then!"

Damon walked over to the liquor cart and poured himself a crystal tumbler of bourbon, passing another to Ric. "Absolutely not; Barbie Klaus stays in the basement."

Caroline glanced at her nails, unfazed. "Well, what is Katherine going to do? Why did she even agree to come? I would have thought the queen bitch would be in some foreign country."

Damon glanced at Elena. Slowly, she nodded and walked over to him, lacing her fingers through his. "We have something to tell you all," Elena said, biting her lip, unsure of how to start.

Caroline frowned suspiciously. "Did you finally let him screw you?"

Elena's face grew a bit pale, and then blush crept into her cheeks; leave it to Caroline…

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, my God; _you did!_"

Alaric choked on his bourbon, his eyes, if possible, wider than Caroline's. "_What…?_"

Matt looked depressed, and Bonnie disbelieving.

"Is it true?" Bonnie asked and Elena slowly nodded.

"I wouldn't put it how she did… but yes," she gave Damon a small smile. "I love him, and he loves me. So… I finally gave in to what my heart wants."

"So, your point is that you have no idea what Stefan is coming back for, but when he finds out about you two he's going to flip, so you're scared?"

Elena laid her head on Damon's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her, nodding. "That's… part of the reason."

With surprising unison, all four frowned.

"What's the rest of the reason?" Bonnie asked suspiciously.

As if on cue, Ellie's wails filled the house and everyone's eyes widened.

"What the _hell _is _that…?_" Caroline hissed.

Elena took Damon's hand again, sighing. "That would be Ellie," she said and all four jumped to their feet.

"_WHO?_"

"Ellie," Damon said, "is the eight week old baby that was left on my doorstep the night of the hurricane. Elena and I… have decided to take her in as our own."

If Caroline were alive, she would have passed out. Alaric actually _did _pass out.

Damon sighed, shaking his head. "Toss some alcohol on him and follow us," he said, leading the way out of the room and up the stairs.

Bonnie and Caroline scrambled after them, leaving Matt to deal with Alaric. Elena opened the door and Ellie's crying grew louder. "Oh, Ellie," Elena cooed, walking over and picking her up, supporting her head as the crying baby nuzzled into her shoulder.

"Oh, my God…" Bonnie muttered, unable to believe it really was true.

"Elena, you aren't even finished high school! You can't be a _mom…!_" Caroline cried.

Elena frowned. "I don't care, Caroline; this might be the only chance I ever have."

"Don't be stupid!" Caroline cried and Elena recoiled; this was not the reaction she had hoped for.

"Leave her alone," Damon snapped, walking over to stand beside Elena, wrapping an arm around her waist. Caroline shook her head. "What, are you the baby's _father…?_"

"Caroline, stop being rude," Bonnie suddenly said, and the blonde's eyes widened. "What?"

"I told you to stop being rude. If this is what Elena wants, and it makes her happy… then I'm going to support her."

Caroline laughed bitterly. "Bonnie, this is crazy! For one, the kid will never be safe with a vampire father and a doppelganger mother; someone will always be trying to kill them all! How can you put an innocent baby through that just because it _makes her happy…?_"

"Caroline, why are you acting like this?" Elena asked, shock clear in her voice. Caroline glared and shook her head. "You know what? Fine; do whatever you want. But don't expect me to help this time," she snapped, turning on her heal and dashing away. Below, they heard the door slam.

Elena sat down in the rocking chair, her eyes showing how hurt she felt. "Why is she being like this?" she asked breathlessly.

Damon shook his head. "I don't know," he said, stroking her hair. "I do," Bonnie suddenly said and they both turned to look at her.

"She's jealous," Bonnie explained, and Elena frowned.

"Jealous of what…?"

"That you have something she never can have. I think she's also angry at the choice you're making, getting into this; by adopting a baby… you're basically saying you want to be with Damon forever. Which means you're never going to move on and have your own kids. I think that's something Caroline wishes she could still do… but she can't. So she resents you, and she's jealous."

Elena couldn't believe it. How could Caroline be jealous? It didn't make any sense… but, at the same time, it made perfect sense. Bonnie was right.

"What are we going to do?" Elena asked and Bonnie shook her head.

"Give her time; she'll come around."

"No," Damon shook her head, "We don't have time! Stefan is going to be here tonight, and Ellie and Elena are both in danger. We need everyone to help us… and without Caroline, we're one vampire weaker."

Bonnie knew Damon was right; but what could they do?

Elena couldn't believe it had honestly come to this. They were forming a protection party… against Stefan. How had things gotten so messed up? More importantly, was he really so sadistic now that he would harm an innocent baby?

Brushing hair out of Ellie's blue eyes, the startling truth occurred to Elena.

Of course he would; for the same reason Caroline stormed out. He would be jealous. Jealous of his brother's newly found happiness, jealous of the family he could have had, but never would, jealous of losing Elena. Jealousy has a funny way of ruling people, and makes people do scary things. But could someone do something as scary as harm a baby over a broken heart?

Gulping, Elena nodded to herself.

_Of course they would. _

"We have to do something… Caroline or no Caroline, we can't let Stefan get anywhere near her," Elena said, determined. Damon nodded in agreement, all the while trying to come up with a way to convince Caroline to help.

Alaric and Matt walked in at that moment, Alaric with a hand to his head. Matt grinned at bit. "She's cute," he said, smiling and walking over to crouch by the rocking chair, looking at Ellie.

"I think I need more bourbon," Alaric said, leaning against the wall. He glanced at Damon. "What are we supposed to do? Stefan isn't going to be happy when he finds out you've started a family with his girlfriend."

"I not his girlfriend anymore," Elena said, frowning.

Damon ran a hand through his inky black hair, shaking his head. "I have absolutely no idea what to do. That's why I called Katherine. You can always guarantee she has a plan."

Elena stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the dark, dreary day outside. "Does she know?" she asked, turning her head to look at Damon. He nodded and walked over to her. "That's why she agreed. Katherine told me that she knows what it's like to lose a…"

"Lose a baby," Elena nodded. "She told me about that when I visited her in the tomb."

Damon blinked, a bit surprised. "She did?"

Elena nodded again. "She told me about everything that ever happened to her before she met you two… I can't believe I never told you," she said, a bit stunned that she had failed to mention it all this time.

"So… what now?" Alaric asked.

"Now… we wait," Damon said, and all of them looked out the window, praying Katherine would arrive before Stefan did.

_**I'm not sure how much I like this chapter… the next few will be better, I promise; I didn't have a lot of time to write this week. I've been super busy with tests and projects, but I'll try to update more frequently this week! Remember to review!-Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	13. The Plan

**_I actually really like how this chapter turned out; sort of setting the tone and sorting everything out before the real action begins. I especially liked the ending; I hope you'll all love it, too! XOXO-Charlie'sLostVampire_**

A few hours passed, and everyone made their way down to the living room. Jeremy, who had been out with a few friends when Alaric got Damon's call, arrived shortly after Caroline stormed out, and nearly had a heart attack when he was introduced to Ellie. Evidently, he wasn't sure what to think about possibly becoming an uncle. However, he told them that he definitely wanted to help protect her. Apparently, she was too adorable to resist.

Bonnie, Matt, and Jeremy had all went down into the basement to help Alaric set up his numerous lethal wooden weapons, and Elena sat on the leather couch holding Ellie, looking worried and tired. All she could think about was that Stefan could appear at any moment and snatch Ellie away from her. The thought terrified her, and she held Ellie closer, placing a small kiss on the sleeping baby's head. Damon walked down the stairs and paused in the doorway, watching Elena. She looked awful, and he could sense her fear. He walked over and sat beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "It's going to be fine, Elena," he whispered to her, kissing her forehead. Elena nuzzled her head into his shoulder blade and shut her eyes, sighing. "I'm scared, Damon," she whispered and he stroked her hair. "I know, Elena; I know. But it's going to be okay; I promise," he assured her and she nodded weakly.

Ellie stirred a bit and shifted in Elena's arms, her tiny fist clenching in a ball, clutching Damon's black button down. Damon frowned and softly touched her cheek. The front door opened then and Elena jumped, Damon's head snapping around to see who the offender was.

Caroline stood in the entrance to the parlor, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry!" she whimpered, shaking her head. "God, I'm so sorry! I was such a bitch…"

Elena smiled softly and passed Ellie to Damon, standing up and walking up to her friend, embracing her. "It's okay, Care," she said and Caroline shook her head. "I was a petty snob and all because I… because I'm jealous…! I can't ever have… what you… have…!"

Caroline was sobbing into Elena's shoulder now and Elena hugged her more tightly. "It's okay, Care, really; I understand…"

"What's going on?"

Jeremy had just walked out of the basement with Alaric, Bonnie, and Matt following closely behind. Their eyes widened when they caught sight of Caroline mid-meltdown.

Caroline attempted to pull herself together, wiping her eyes. "Can I… could I see her?"

Elena smiled and nodded, taking her hand and leading her over to the couch. Caroline sat down beside Damon and smiled, wiping her eyes again. For once, Ellie seemed relatively happy to be awake, and was cuddled into Damon's chest, her blue eyes focused on Caroline. Caroline smiled. "She's beautiful," she said, touching the tiny baby's cheek. Elena smiled and sat beside her friend. "You know," Elena said, smiling at Caroline, "she could always use an auntie…"

Caroline's eyes widened as she turned her head to look at Elena. "Really…?"

Elena glanced at Damon. "Right?" she asked him.

Damon was very tempted to scream "Hell no!" seeing as though the last time "Auntie Caroline" took care of a child she lost her, but Damon couldn't resist Elena's pleading eyes, and he nodded, sighing. "Right," he said and Caroline squealed in happiness, hugging Elena tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much…!"

Caroline trailed off when they heard a car coming up the driveway. Damon stood up and walked over to the window, watching the black Ferrari pull up the driveway. He clenched his fists, prepared to leap into action if it was Stefan. To his immense relief, however, it was Katherine who stepped out of the car, her wavy hair bouncing, and designer sunglasses on her eyes despite the cloudy sky. She shut the door and pranced up to the front door with arrogance only Katherine could pull off, with her heals clicking on the walkway.

Damon walked to the door and opened it. Katherine grinned when she saw him. "I take it I'm right on time?"

Damon nodded and gestured her inside, shutting the door once she was in. "I'm assuming you have a plan?" he asked as he followed her into the kitchen where she helped herself to a blood bag from the fridge. Tossing it in the microwave she nodded. "I always have a plan, Damon," she said as she tapped her heal impatiently on the tile floor. For one in his life, Damon was incredibly happy to hear those words.

"Well, what's your plan?" he asked as she took the blood from the microwave and tore the top off, pouring it into a crystal tumbler.

"Before I tell you my plan, I'm going to need to see this infamous _Ellie,_" Katherine said, sipping at her blood and removing her sunglasses, tossing them on the counter carelessly.

Damon frowned. "Why?"

"Because," Katherine said, "it's part of the plan. In order for the plan to work, I need to see the baby."

A bit hesitantly Damon led her into the parlor where everyone sat, waiting. Elena frowned when her doppelganger swaggered in. "Thank you for coming," she said, and Katherine grinned. "Believe me, sweet heart, it wasn't for you," she said, walking over and glancing at the baby in Elena's arms. As soon as she locked eyes with the infant, something in Katherine's devious, cold brown eyes seemed to soften. For a moment, she almost looked vulnerable. "She's cute," she said simply before turning on her heal and taking another sip of blood. She grinned when she saw Matt. "Hey, blue eyes," she said, and Matt frowned. He still couldn't believe everyone had tricked him into taking Katherine to homecoming. If that was the case, couldn't Damon have been her date?

"What's your plan, Katherine?" Damon asked, his patience quickly wearing thin. She sighed and turned to face him. "It's simple, really; but she isn't going to like it," she said, pointing to Elena. Elena frowned. "Why not?" she asked and Katherine placed her glass of blood down, walking over to Elena and looking her directly in the eyes. "Because, Elena," she said, "In order to keep your precious Ellie safe, when Stefan gets here… I have to be you."

The color washed out of Elena's face at the proposition of the idea. The thought of Katherine masquerading as her yet again was bad enough, but there was no way she was letting that vicious bitch come anywhere near her baby. "No," Elena said, shaking her head. "No."

Damon was frowning as well. "I don't like it, either," he said.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Use your head, Damon! What's more important to you; keeping that baby away from me, or keeping it alive?"

Elena held Ellie tighter, frowning. "Just where will I be during this master plan of yours?"

"Well, seeing as though we only have a few hours, your options are limited. I would suggest a hotel out of town where Stefan won't find you. That way you can't screw everything up."

Elena glared. "We aren't doing this," she said, turning to Damon for support. To her horror, he seemed to be considering Katherine's idea. "Think about it, Elena," he said calmly, "If she pretends to be you, we can keep Ellie safe at all times. There's even a chance we can capture Stefan and send him back to Bunny Town."

"Damon!" Elena cried in horror, unable to believe he was willing to go along with this.

"For once, I agree with Katherine," Bonnie said. "Stefan will be here in a few hours, and she's the closest thing to protection we have against him."

"Bonnie and Damon are right," Alaric nodded. "I can set you up with a few vervain injectors, and you can stab him if he gets too close for comfort."

Katherine nodded in agreement. "Believe me, I have no problem with putting Stefan in Ripper-Rehab; I thought he would be more fun if he was bad, but he's just turning into an ass." She glanced at Damon. "He's turning into a twisted version of you."

Damon rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Elena, don't you see why this could work?" Caroline said carefully. "If Katherine has Ellie, she can protect her. Not to mention the rest of us will be here, too…"

Elena turned to the last person in the room who hadn't sided against her. "Jer?" she asked and Jeremy looked guilty.

"I want to take your side, Elena… but they're right. If you want what's best for the baby, you'll let Katherine do this."

Disgusted, Elena looked back and forth between all of her friends' faces; all of which were against her. Standing up, Elena held Ellie close to her chest and glared at Katherine. "There is no way in hell you're touching my baby," she spat before storming out of the room and up the stairs.

"Elena!" Damon called after her, starting to follow, but Katherine grabbed his arm. "We don't have time for this," she told him. "We have to start planning our attack method now, before he gets here. We can deal with Mommy-in-Denial after."

Damon frowned at her. "You don't get it, Katherine! It's not the fact that you have Ellie that bothers her, it's the fact that she can't even be here to protect her while everything goes down! You said earlier that, no matter how much you hate her, you weren't going to let her go through the pain of losing her baby. Well, that's what you're doing right now!"

Katherine shook her head. "A few hours doesn't count. Would she rather leave and have her kid live, or stay here and watch her die? Take your pick, Damon."

Damon frowned and then stalked over to the liquor cart, pouring himself a strong drink. "Let's just figure out what the hell to do with my brother," he said dully, downing a glass of bourbon.

… . … . … . … . …

Elena sat on Damon's four poster bed, holding a sleeping Ellie close to her. She herself hadn't stopped crying for nearly forty minutes, and couldn't understand how it hadn't kept Ellie awake. The idea of handing her over to Katherine terrified Elena nearly as much as Stefan taking Ellie away. So many things could go wrong, and Damon couldn't even see them. For some reason, everyone seemed to be forgetting that Katherine had lost her own child. How were they supposed to know this all wasn't some kind of ploy for her to take Ellie and run, for them to never hear from her ever again?

Choking back a sob, Elena pressed her forehead to Ellie's tiny head, tears dripping into her fine blonde hair. She jumped and looked up when the thick bedroom door opened and Damon glanced inside, looking a bit nervous. "Can we talk?" he asked.

Elena didn't answer him. She just glared for a few seconds, and then turned her head away to look at his gold comforter. Sighing, Damon shut the door and walked across the room, sitting on the bed. "Everything is set. Do you want to know what we've planned?"

"There shouldn't be a plan if it involves her taking Ellie," Elena said, her voice cracking. Damon frowned. "Elena, she isn't taking her. It's only for a few hours until we can get Stefan under control…"

"And where am I supposed to be while all of this happens? You can't honestly expect me to leave town while Stefan is here, possibly able to rip Ellie to shreds at any second…? You left me out of the loop during homecoming and everything f-failed… you can't do that to me ag-gain…!"

Elena was sobbing now and Damon reached over, pulling her into his arms. "Elena, just calm down. I won't let anything happen to Ellie; I'll die before I let anything happen."

"How is that any better?" she suddenly shrieked and Damon recoiled. "How is you risking your life any better than me losing Ellie? Damon, I can't stand the idea of not knowing what's going on!"

"Elena, sweetheart, it's the only plan we have."

"No, it's the only plan _she _has! You haven't even tried to think of something better! Damon, you're her father; you're supposed to do what's best for her! How is handing her over to Katherine and sending me away doing what's best for her…?"

"I'm trying to keep her alive, Elena! If it were up to me, I would have gotten us all on a plane and got out of the country this morning, but it isn't that easy! Ellie would need to have a birth certificate, or adoption papers, and not to mention a passport, and there would just be too many people to compel, and too much of a risk! Elena, you know that I want to do what's best for her. Right now, this is the only way I know will keep her safe. You have to trust me when I tell you I'm not going to let anything happen to our baby, but it isn't going to work unless you cooperate. Elena, I'm begging you; for once, just listen to Katherine."

She frowned, a roller coaster of emotions running through her eyes. Finally, she whispered. "Where will I go?"

Relief washing through him at her agreement, he moved closer and gave her a quick kiss."The Hilton in Richmond; I can reserve you a room for the night, and I promise to call you as soon as I have any information."

Tears leaking from her eyes, Elena whispered, "Do you really think this is what's best for Ellie?"

Damon nodded. "Otherwise I wouldn't be letting it happen. You know that," he said, stroking her cheekbone. Slowly, Elena nodded. "Alright. I trust you, Damon."

He gave her a soft, loving kiss. "Will you come downstairs and help us get ready?" he asked and she nodded, standing up, cradling Ellie. Damon wrapped an arm around her and led her out of the room and back downstairs into the parlor. There was a flurry of busyness as everyone flitted around the room, performing various tasks for preparation. Alaric was filling vervain injectors, Matt was soaking stakes in vervain and placing them in various hiding places throughout the house, Caroline was digging through a bag of clothes trying to find an outfit that was Elena like that Katherine would completely hate wearing, Bonnie was putting up various protection spells, Jeremy was keeping watch, and Katherine…

Elena had to look away; Katherine was busy straightening her hair, adding the finishing touches to her Elena façade. "I see you finally agreed," Katherine said and Elena didn't respond. Damon rubbed her arm comfortingly and placed a kiss to her temple. "Don't worry," he whispered to her and she nodded. "What can I do to help?" she asked and Katherine, who had just finished her hair, walked up to her. "You can leave; you're going to need a head start so you don't run into Stefan on your way to Richmond."

Elena looked at Damon, and he nodded, looking torn. "She's right," he said and Elena glanced down at Ellie, who was still sleeping in her arms. "Here," she said quietly, passing her to him, hating the void she felt in her arms once she passed her over; there was still that horrible fear that this was all going to backfire, and she would never hold Ellie ever again.

"I love you," Damon whispered to her, hugging her tightly. Elena sighed, relaxing in his arms. "I love you, too," she said, feeling him press a kiss to the top of her head. He then released her, giving her the keys to his Camaro. "I'll tell Stefan it's in the shop if he asks," he said, grinning feebly.

She returned his weak smile, grabbing her jacket off of the couch and putting it on, starting for the door. She paused when she opened it, turning around slightly to look at Damon, who was gazing at her with a sad, yearning look in his eyes. Before she knew what she was doing she was crying again, running back to him and mashing her lips against his, kissing him through her tears. "Be careful," she whimpered when she pulled away and leaned down to kiss the top of Ellie's head. "Take care of her, Damon," she said and he nodded, pulling her into a tight hug, fighting back his own tears. "I will," he said, his voice hoarse. "Nothing will happen to her; I promise."

Elena pulled back and wiped her eyes before giving him one last kiss and rushing out the door before she could change her mind.


	14. An Unforseen Problem

After what felt like agonizing hours of driving around, Elena pulled into the lavish parking lot of the Richmond Hilton. She parked Damon's car and got out, glancing wearily at the skyline; the sky itself was dark purple and red, and the sun was slipping behind some trees. Nightfall had arrived, and that meant Stefan likely had, as well. Quick to want to get her mind away from that subject, she rushed into the hotel, pushing through the glass doors into the huge lobby. Not even bothering to take in her surroundings she walked straight up to the front desk where there was a middle aged man with gelled back brown hair standing in a tux. He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her casual appearance; no one dressed as plainly as Elena and walked into his hotel ever had good intentions.

"Hi," she said, a bit awkwardly; she wasn't sure what to say at a hotel this swanky. She wished that Damon were with her… "Um… I have a reservation for a room? It should be under Salvatore," she said and the man checked his computer. After a few seconds he nodded, seeming a bit surprised to find her information valid. "Ah, yes..." he said. "Mr. Salvatore called in your reservation about an hour ago… something about a family crisis?"

Elena bit her lip and nodded. "You could say that."

"Well, I'll just need to see your credit card to verify that everything gets paid for, and I'll have someone show you to your room."

"Oh," Elena said, not realizing she would need Damon's credit card. "Um… just a second…"

She slid her purse off her shoulder to pull out her wallet; she would likely need to dip into her college fund to pay for whatever crazy room Damon had rented her, but since he failed to… _oh. _

Her eyes widened a bit when she noticed what was neatly stashed in her purse. Wedged neatly between her own wallet and her car keys was _Damon's wallet, _fully stocked with every single black card, gold card, and membership card he possessed. Clearly, he had been prepared where she hadn't. A pang of yearning went off in her stomach as she held the black leather wallet in her hands, stunned.

"Mrs. Salvatore?"

Elena's head shot up in surprise. "What did you just call me?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Salvatore specified that his wife would be spending the night with us," he said as though it should be obvious. Elena felt blush creeping into her cheeks; _Mrs. Salvatore? _As in Mrs. _Damon Salvatore? _Of course, in all logic, it made perfect sense for Damon to have masqueraded her as his wife; that way it wouldn't look suspicious when he set her up with a room and she found his wallet in her purse. But still… it would have been nice to know they were suddenly _married… _

"Oh," Elena said, still blushing. "Right. We, uh… we've only been married a few weeks, and I'm not really used to the name yet…"

The man nodded as Elena pulled out one of Damon's many black cards and passed it to him. He scanned it, verified that it did, indeed, belong to Damon Salvatore, and then called a bellhop over to collect her things and show her to the… "_Presidential suite?_" Elena repeated in disbelief and the man at the desk shot her a grin. "Clearly nothing is too good for Mrs. Salvatore."

Elena blushed again and shook her head when the bellhop offered to take her bag. Instead, she just allowed him to show her to the elevator, and take her up to the 21st floor, which appeared to be private. Elena decided right then that she didn't want to know how much this all cost. "Thank you," she said when the bellhop passed her the key that allowed her to get into her bedroom. The elevator doors shut behind her, and Elena found herself entirely alone again. She bit her lip and walked across the hallway to a window which overlooked a large part of Richmond in the distance. The sun was no longer in the sky, and stars were beginning to appear. Elena, now free of any distraction, felt her worry sinking in again. What was happening back in Mystic Falls? Was everyone alright? What did Stefan want? How had he reacted to Ellie? _Were Ellie and Damon alright? _

Her hands shaking, she walked over to the large, cream and gold colored double doors and unlocked them, walking into the master suite on the private floor. She was greeted by a large white king sized bed with a thin canopy, and walked over and flopped down on the bed, pulling out her cell phone. She had no missed calls, and wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign. As tempted as she was to call someone back home, she knew it would be a bad idea; what would Stefan think if Elena called someone in the room while Elena was supposed to be standing right in front of him?

Elena placed her phone on the bedside table and shut her eyes, trying to calm her nerves. She had just begun to drift off to sleep when a hand suddenly clamped down over her mouth, muffling her shocked scream as her eyes snapped open.

… . … . … . … . …

Damon glanced nervously out the window at the setting sun as he held Ellie, sleeping again, close to his chest. "This is never going to work," he choked out and Katherine sighed. "Don't be such a fatalist, Damon…"

"There's no way in hell that Stefan is going to buy that Ellie's heartbeat is yours, too!" Damon snapped nervously. Of course, he had kept his cool while Elena was there, so he could get her to cooperate; but in all honesty, he was more terrified of the possible outcomes than she had been. He had left out a rather bleak part of Katherine's plan when explaining to Elena, the bleakness being that Katherine had no heartbeat, being a dead vampire. Katherine's _brilliant _improvisation was that she keep Ellie close to her at all times to make it seem like her own heart was beating as well as the baby's. That way, if anything went wrong, she would be able to protect her. It was a win-win in her eyes; in Damon's eyes, it was a lose-lose. If and when Stefan realized it wasn't really Elena, he was going to go at her first. And if Katherine had Ellie, God only knows what could happen to the fragile little angel…

His anxious over protective father side kicking in, Damon began to nervously rock back and forth on his heels, placing a kiss to Ellie's head as his beady blue eyes focused on the driveway. "Where is the bastard?" he got out shakily.

Katherine sighed. "How should I know? He never calls, never writes…"

"This is no time for jokes, Katherine!" Damon snapped.

Currently they were the only two in the parlor. The others were standing by at other areas of the house where Stefan could decide to silently stroll in. "It's always time for jokes, Damon," Katherine said, grinning. "Especially when you're so _tense…_"

Her voice had a purring edge to it and Damon scowled. "If you're trying to seduce me, it isn't going to work. We all know that there are only two reasons I want you here, and one of them is currently in Richmond, likely in a worse state than I am."

"And the other being your pwecious wittle baby…" Katherine said in a baby voice and Damon shot a glare at her. "Katherine, why don't you just…"

"Katherine?"

Damon and Katherine both looked up in stunned shock and Damon hissed under his breath. He had only turned away from the damn window for a _second… _

Stefan was standing in the entry way, gazing curiously at Katherine, who sat on one of the couches. Katherine stared right back, unable to believe he had so easily slipped past them. How long had he been waiting for Damon to turn away…? "Damn," she purred, grinning. "Ripper Stefan is _stealthy._"

He shrugged as if to say, _it's nothing. _"Tell me," he said, entering the living room. "Why are you dressed as my girlfriend and why," he turned to face Damon, "is my brother holding a baby?"

Damon was stunned. How in hell had he slipped past them…?

"Well, I could tell you, but you won't like my answer," Katherine said tauntingly, grinning flirtatiously at him. Stefan shrugged. "Try me."

Katherine opened her mouth to start talking and Damon cut her off, glaring daggers at her. "Don't you dare say a word, you traitorous little bitch," he spat. She shook her head, grinning. "Damon, Damon, Damon; sweet, naïve Damon… me telling Stefan the truth wouldn't be traitorous; me being on your side would be traitorous, since it's always going to be Stefan who I choose. Now, what would really be traitorous," she grinned, knowing Damon could do nothing to stop her while protecting Ellie, "would be for me to not tell sweet Stefan here that, while he was off with the coffins, you… shacked up with his girlfriend."

Stefan's eyes narrowed as he turned to look at his brother. "Why am I not surprised?"

"You shouldn't be," Damon spat venomously, "What with you being a traitorous jackass to everyone, including Elena. It's your own fault that she…"

"That she what, Damon? That she decided she was lonely and would screw you for a while until I came back to Bunny Land?"

Damon's glare deepened. "There you go again, with the stupid jackass routine; you shouldn't be surprised that Elena got sick of waiting on someone who didn't want her, and decided to be with someone who actually loves her!"

Stefan gave a hysterical, rather frightening laugh. "Oh, you obviously don't know how pretty little Elena's mind works, big brother… you see, she was more than willing to stab you in the back a few months ago when you were trying to get Bitch here out of the tomb she was never really in. Why should she suddenly warm up to you so much?"

Damon glared. "Maybe because while you were off ripping innocent people apart, I was actually trying to keep her alive!"

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Just keep telling yourself that, Damon; you just keep pretending that Elena isn't just some sort of replacement for Katherine…"

Damon's lip twitched; he wanted nothing more than to rip his brother apart. Stefan knew nothing about how he felt for Elena, and he certainly couldn't talk about them that way. He had no right to say anything about him and Elena being happy together after the way he had acted over the past few months. "You've changed, Stefan," Damon said roughly and Stefan grinned, shaking his head. "So have you, _Damon; _the last time I checked, I didn't think you were a soft sap of a pushover who would do anything for someone else's girlfriend, including being her little sex slave…"

"Shut up!" Damon yelled. "Shut the fuck up…!"

His yelling and furious step toward his brother woke Ellie, and she started to cry. All three pairs of eyes locked on Ellie; worried blue, narrowed brown and skeptical hazel. "Why the hell do you have a baby, Damon?" Stefan snapped.

"None of your damn business," Damon said, clearly fed up as he tried to sooth Ellie while not looking away from his brother.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "He's going to find out eventually…"

"No, he isn't!" Damon yelled at her and Ellie cried louder.

Stefan's lip twitched in irritation. "Shut that thing up!" he snarled and Damon glared, looking down at Ellie and holding her close to his chest in attempt to stop her sobbing. Stefan turned back to Katherine. "Care to share, Kat?" he asked and she grinned now that Damon wasn't paying attention. "Damon and Elena have decided to adopt a baby," she said, grinning devilishly.

Stefan's badass I-Don't-Give-A-Shit attitude seemed to fly out the window at that statement. "They _what?_"

Damon's eyes snapped up to glare at Katherine. "Remind me why the hell I called you?"

Katherine shrugged. "You called; I never asked you to."

Stefan's eyes snapped back to his brother, suddenly furious. "At this point, Damon, I don't give a shit if you slept with her. I could care less if you've been fucking her since the night I left; but now you honestly think you're going to be happy, and start a _family _with her…?"

His hazel eyes fell on Ellie's tiny, quivering form and his lip twitched. "No chance in hell, _brother._"

The next few seconds were mad; _brother _appeared to have been everyone's trigger word. Stefan took off in a snarling lunge toward his brother and Damon had made a vampiric jump upward, landing in the rafters just as Alaric thundered down the stairs, shooting Stefan numerous times with a vervain tranquilizer gun. Katherine herself had appeared to make a lunge to stop Stefan from targeting the baby, and was now lying on her face on the floor, her target having collapsed before her. Matt was tying vervain soaked ropes around Stefan's wrists, and Bonnie was heavily sedating him with some form of spell. Jeremy was offering a very miffed Katherine his hand, which she snarled at and stood promptly on her own, wiping dust off her clothes in irritation as she stalked into the kitchen to get more blood. Caroline was gazing, terrified, up into the rafters at Damon and Ellie. "Get down from there!" she hissed, afraid he may drop the baby. She knew Damon never would, but her brain still wanted to assume the worst was possible. Damon gracefully leapt back down to the floor, whispering soothing words to Ellie, attempting to stop her terrified wailing.

"Matt, Jer; help me get him locked up in the basement," Alaric said and both boys nodded, helping him pick up Stefan and start for the basement entrance.

Katherine waltzed back in, a tumbler of blood and vodka in her hand. "Well, that certainly didn't go as planned. Good thing the history teacher came prepared."

Caroline glared at her. "From what I heard, you were no help."

"Neither were any of you, staying hidden until the last minute. The plan was…"

"The plan was that he was supposed to think you were Elena! You blew that within the first thirty seconds!"

"Technically not my fault; Damon was on watch duty, and he turned around."

Caroline rolled her eyes in disgust as Katherine took a casual sip of her drink and flopped down on the leather couch.

"You're pathetic, do you know that?" Caroline spat at her. "I think Rebekah would have been more help…"

"Barbie Klaus?" Katherine said with a laugh, "Over my dead undead body will she ever be walking amongst the living dead people again…"

Caroline glared and walked over to where Damon sat, stroking Ellie's cheeks as she curled her fists up, clutching the fabric of his shirt with her tiny hands. Her eyes were wide open, and Caroline didn't like how traumatized the little baby looked. "Can babies be compelled?" she asked. "Can you make her forget Stefan lunging at her, and you jumping with her…?"

"Anyone can be compelled, Caroline… I just don't want to do it right away," Damon said, continuing to calmingly stroke the baby's cheek; partially for her sake, and partially for his own. "I need to call Elena," he said and stood up. "Will you take Ellie for a little while?"

Caroline's eyes lit up. "Really…?"

Damon nodded and passed her over, surprised when she didn't cry. "I'll just be a few minutes," he said, and walked into the kitchen, pulling his cell phone out. He frowned when he realized he had an unknown missed call. His frown deepening, he redialed the number and waited for a response.

The voice he heard made him snarl in irritation.

"_Damon; I was wondering when you were going to call me back. Been busy, mate?_"

Damon didn't like the chipper note in Klaus' voice. It was never anything good when that bastard was happy. "What do you want?"

"_Well, I think we all know what I want, but your brother is keeping me from getting it. I was actually hoping you could help me with a little dilemma of mine_."

"And why in hell would I help you?" Damon said, his voice sugary sweet with sarcasm.

"_Because, my dear friend; I have leverage. Tell me; do you know where my sister is? She hasn't been answering my phone calls…"_

"I don't blame her, after what you did to your mother."

Klaus was silent. "_How in hell do you know about that?_"

"Well, it turns out that said little sister is a bit of a chatter box. We got your whole backstory, and then Ric put two and two together with these _very useful_ ancient Original wall diaries_…_ and bingo; Mommy-Killing-Nikki was his name-o."

"_Alright, you bastard, that's it; where in hell is my sister?_"

"Let's just say she's having a nice little reunion with Stefan, and I really don't think she wants to talk to you. That isn't a problem, is it?"

"_No, of course not; but this may be for you._"

Damon frowned. "What…?"

"_Elena, sweetheart; come say hello to your little boyfriend back home._"

Damon's grip tightened on his phone as he heard the familiar sound of struggling, then Elena's pleading voice was on the line. "_Damon, no matter what he says, don't give her to him…_"

Damon snarled. "Where the hell are you?"

"_In a nice little room in the Richmond Hilton; your treat, I believe._"

"You can't hurt her; you need her alive for your stupid hybrids," Damon spat, holding on to the only hope he had that Elena would stay safe until he got there to save her.

"_Oh, I can't hurt her; but I can do something much, much worse._"

"You sure as hell can't kill her!" Damon said.

"_No… when I say worse, I mean worse for you, Damon._"

Damon was trembling. "If you touch a single hair on her head I swear I'll rip your heart out."

"_You see, Damon, that's the thing; I don't need to hurt her to do this. If I wish to, I could take her away with me right now, and you shall never see her ever again for the rest of her pathetic human existence._"

"_Damon, don't listen…!_"

"_Quiet, now, Elena, don't be rude._"

Damon ran a hand through his hair in exasperation; Klaus had him. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"_Bring me my sister. Oh, and to make things more fun, let's give you a time limit, shall we? You have exactly two hours to bring me my sister, or I'll take your precious girlfriend into hiding somewhere you'll never find her, and you will never see her again._"

Damon heard Elena sobbing as the line went dead and he chucked his phone across the kitchen. "Damn it!"

Caroline, Katherine, and Bonnie all rushed into the kitchen at hearing his outburst. "What is it?" Caroline asked.

Damon had his face in his hands, trembling. "He has her. _Klaus has her!_"

"Who does he have?" Caroline squeaked and Katherine rolled her eyes. "Who do you think he has, Barbie?"

Bonnie was seething. "It's Elena, isn't it?"

Damon nodded, looking tortured. "He's going to kidnap her if I don't bring him Rebekah in two hours. He'll take her somewhere we'll never find her…"

"Don't do it. I can locate them with a locator spell…"

"You think he hasn't thought of that?" Damon snapped in irritation. "He'll have thought of everything! Klaus has hundreds of witches on his side; there's no way you would be able to locate her. If I don't give him Rebekah… we'll lose Elena."

"We can't hand her over, Damon," Katherine said and he glared. "I'm not risking losing Elena!"

"What about Ellie?" Caroline asked and all eyes turned to her. "Well, does he know? Did Elena say anything…?"

"He didn't mention it," Damon said, confident that Elena would never mention her baby to Klaus. He knew she would die before she would say anything, and it scared him. "I'm taking Rebekah to him, whether all of you like it or not. I'm not going to lose Elena just because we don't want Rebekah undaggered."

"Rebekah will kill her anyway if she gets undaggered! Am I the only one who remembers Elena _stabbed her in the back?_" Katherine asked and Damon glared.

"At least if I bring her home safely I can protect her!"

"You can't protect her from an Original, Damon!" Katherine hissed.

"Well, currently Rebekah isn't the Original I'm worried about," Damon said, closing the subject.

At that moment Alaric, Jeremy, and Matt returned. "What's going on?" Jeremy asked.

"Klaus has Elena," Damon said and Jeremy paled.

"He… he what…?"

"He wants Rebekah, and he somehow found out where Elena was going to be tonight. He's holding her hostage, and we have two hours before he… takes her."

"Takes her where?" Alaric asked.

Damon shook his head. "That's the point; he won't tell me. If I don't bring Rebekah to him… I'll never see Elena again."

Amongst their group were many mixed feelings. But Damon's mind was set, no matter what any of them said; he was taking Rebekah to Richmond, and getting Elena back. He didn't care what price he may pay later.

He just got her; he wasn't going to lose her.


	15. A Change in the Deal

Elena sat silently in a chair in the corner of the hotel bedroom, trying to mask her fear. How had Klaus known where she would be? Was this all some kind of ploy? Her eyes widened as a sudden thought came to her.

_Was Stefan still working for him, and it had all been a distraction to get her away from Damon, so that Klaus could get Rebekah back?_

Elena glared at Klaus, finally finding the courage to speak. "Is Stefan still working with you?" she spat in disgust. Klaus, who had been drinking champagne, laughed and nearly choked on his drink. "You are joking, aren't you, my dear?" he asked when he finally got a hold on himself. Elena's glare deepened. "No, I'm not. Is he? He called earlier today and said he was coming back to town. Was it all some kind of distraction…?"

She gasped in surprise when Klaus was suddenly standing directly before her, glaring. "_Stefan is back in Mystic Falls?_"

She cringed back from him nervously. "I don't know… he called Damon and said he was coming…"

Klaus reached over and grabbed Elena's arm in a painful, iron grip. "I may not be able to kill you, but I can still break your arm if you're lying."

Her eyes began to water in pain under his grip. "I'm not lying! I swear I'm not…!"

"Is Stefan in Mystic Falls?" Klaus roared, his grip tightening. Elena cried out in pain. "I don't know! I l-left before he could get there…! Damon and Katherine made me leave…!"

Klaus released his grip, glaring. "Katerina is back, as well?"

Tears trailing down Elena's cheek, she nodded. "Yes," she whimpered as she rubbed her arm, which was quickly developing an ugly bruise. Klaus glared and pulled out his phone. Elena looked nervously at him. "Who are you calling?"

Klaus grinned devilishly at her. "I'm calling your boyfriend. Or rather, _your husband _as the charming young chap at the front desk told me. I'm a bit insulted, Elena; why wasn't I invited to your wedding?"

Elena glared at him as he dialed Damon's number and pressed the phone to his ear.

… . … . … . … . …

Damon was sitting on the floor of the cell where Rebekah laid daggered, facedown and still wearing her homecoming dress. He ran a hand through his hair; chances were, Rebekah would be in vengeance mode when she was undaggered, and come straight after Elena. What would she do when she realized Elena had a newfound weakness? Easy; she would target Ellie.

He wanted nothing more than to leave her there and forget the damn Original bitch ever existed. But he knew he had no choice but to take her to Klaus. He had to get Elena back. After all, it was his fault she was there in the first place. If he had just let her stay…

He flinched when the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket echoed throughout the cells, and he pulled it out, answering it without looking to see who it was. "Whoever this is, I'm busy," he snapped.

"_Oh, I certainly hope you are, Damon._"

Damon glared. "What do you want now?" he snapped. Klaus chuckled. "_Oh, I just thought I would ask you a question. You see, pretty little Elena here let it slip that your brother has returned to Mystic Falls."_

Damon's glare deepened; there was no way in hell he was telling Klaus that Stefan was there. He was just as determined as his brother to keep those coffins out of Klaus' hands. "Well, he isn't."

"_Oh? Elena here seemed convinced that he would be…_"

"Well, he's not! Now if you want your sister back, I suggest you hang up the damn phone…"

Damon felt everything around him turn to ice at the next sound to fill his ear through the phone. Elena gave a bloodcurdling scream of agony, and Klaus began to yell at her, "_One of you is lying to me! Is it him, or is it,_" Elena gave another scream, "_you?_"

"What are you doing to her?" Damon screamed. "Stop it!"

"_Tell me the truth, then! Is Stefan there or not?_"

Elena screamed again and Damon caved. "He's here! He's here, alright? Just stop hurting her!"

Elena's screams faded into whimpering sobs and Damon, if he had any doubts before, was certain of taking Rebekah back now.

"_Katerina; she's there, as well?_"

"Yes," Damon croaked, his expression terrified at the idea of Klaus hurting Elena again.

"_Excellent. Find out from your brother where my coffins are. You shall get Elena back once I have received my family._"

Damon's grip on the phone tightened. "That wasn't our deal," he snapped.

"_Well, seeing as though you would do anything to protect your precious Elena, I believe that gives me the power to alter our deal a bit._"

"It does not! The deal was that I had two hours to bring you Rebekah, and then I got to take Elena home. You don't get to change it!"

"_If you want to see Elena again, I do. Bring me my sister and my information, or I will snap her limbs and then take her out of the bloody country._"

"Let me talk to her," Damon snarled. Klaus chuckled. "_You don't get to make up conditions, Damon; you have no leverage._"

"Oh, yes I do! If you don't let me talk to her, I'll dump your sister's corpse in the ocean and murder my brother so that his _information _dies with him! _Let me talk to Elena!_"

"_You wouldn't dare,_" Klaus snarled.

"Oh, I would; I think you might have forgotten what it's like to be in love, Klaus," Damon snarled right back.

Klaus muttered something, and then Elena's sobbing filled his ear. "_Damon! Don't do it. I'm not worth all of this…!_"

"Don't be an idiot, Elena! No matter what you have to say, I'm coming to get you. Just… try not to piss him off any more before I get there, alright?"

Elena gave a quivering whimper. "_Damon, please; if he gets those coffins back…_"

"I'm not going to lose you, Elena!" Damon shouted, his voice echoing off the cold stone walls of the cell. His voice was still echoing loudly when Elena replied, on the brink of sobbing. "_Damon… you promised me you would protect her._"

Damon squeezed his eyes shut. "I'll always protect you, first."

"_Don't say that…_"

"_I think that's quite enough, love,_" Klaus snapped, and Damon heard them struggling again. "_No! No; Damon! Don't do it! Damon, don't do it…!_"

"_Shut up!_" Klaus snapped, and there was a loud crack! Damon heard a thump, and then Elena was sobbing pitifully. Klaus was snarling in his ear again, though. "_Bring me my sister and the whereabouts of my coffins, or I swear I'll rip her leg off. She only needs one to give me her blood, and she'll be a lot easier to handle if she can't run._"

Damon's eyes widened in horror, and then the dial tone was buzzing in his ear. Snarling he stood up and stalked out of the cell, unlocking and throwing open the door to Stefan's. Alaric had him chained to a chair, and he looked weak and pissed off.

"Tell me where the hell the coffins are," Damon spat and Stefan gave a weak laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

Damon flew forward, grabbing his brother's neck and squeezing it tightly, his eyes wild. "_Tell me where you hid the fucking coffins, Stefan!_"

Stefan glared. "No. It's the only leverage I have against Klaus…"

"Klaus has Elena, Stefan!"

Stefan's eyes widened in clear surprise. "He _what…?_"

"He has Elena," Damon croaked, letting go of Stefan's throat and backing up a few paces, his eyes agonized. "He has her, and he's going to hurt her if I don't tell him where his coffins are and bring him Rebekah. He's going to hurt her, and then he's going to take her away from me forever…"

Stefan's glare was back. "She was never yours to be taken away from, _Damon…_"

Damon shot Stefan a pleading glance. "I don't care if you hate me for what I did. You can despise me for being with her all you want… but if you still love her, _tell me where the coffins are. _Please, Stefan. Do it for Elena."

"For the backstabbing bitch that slept with my brother? I might as well be doing it for Katherine."

Damon's wild glare was back and he flashed over, punching Stefan square in the jaw. "Don't say that!" he yelled. "Don't _ever _say she's like Katherine, you miserable _bastard…!_"

"You know it's true, Damon! Once she gets back here and sees that I've returned, compulsion free, she'll run straight back into my arms, just like Katherine would. You know it's true, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Damon sneered in pure hatred for his brother. "Go to hell, Stefan," he said, stalking away from his brother. He would just have to take Rebekah and find a way to get Elena out without knowing where the coffins were.

"The old witch house."

Damon froze, and turned to glance at his brother again. "What did you say?"

"The old witch house," Stefan repeated. "That's where I'm hiding the coffins. Bonnie's helping me use the witches' magic to conceal them from Klaus' prying eyes."

Damon glared. "How do I know you're telling the truth? What about your _leverage…?_"

"Because, brother; I can't wait to see the look on your face when my theory is right. That poor, heartbroken, lost puppy expression; Elena has to be alive to do it, so…" Stefan grinned. "The old witch house, Damon."

Damon glared. "You can't see an expression that will never happen, brother. You also can't see it if I leave you down here to rot."

Stefan chuckled. "You won't; you'll cave in a few days. You're too good of a big brother to let your baby brother starve down here, all alone…"

Damon glared and slammed the cell door shut, locking it and trying to block out Stefan's maniacal laughter as he stormed back into the other cell, tossing Rebekah's corpse over his shoulder and stalking out of the basement.

… . … . … . … . …

"I told you that you can't give her back, Damon."

Damon ignored Katherine's words and continued toward the door. Glaring, she flashed in front of him. "Have you lost your mind? If she gets undaggered, she'll kill Elena. At least if Elena is with Klaus, she'll be safe and alive…!"

"He's torturing her, Katherine! If I don't take his bitch of a sister to him, he's going to rip her fucking leg off!"

Katherine's eyes widened in surprise. "He wouldn't…"

"Oh, he would; he claims she only needs one leg for him to take her blood, and that she can't run away with only one."

Katherine knew he was serious. "Well, you can't go alone! What if it's a trap?"

Damon shook his head. "At this point, I don't care if he told me there was a group of vampire hunters waiting for me in the room; he hurt Elena."

"I'm coming with you," Katherine said and she attempted to follow him out the door. Damon put his hand out to block her. "No," he said, "you aren't. If I were you, I'd get a running start and get the hell out of town; he knows you're here. Don't worry, Stefan will still be locked up when you come back in a few months to wreak havoc on us all; hopefully."

Katherine's eyes narrowed. "How does he know I'm here?"

Damon glared. "He tortured her, Katherine."

Katherine's nostrils flared in fury. "The bitch told him I was here?"

"Just leave, Katherine!" Damon snapped and she glared, throwing the door open and disappearing into the night. Damon had started to walk out the door, Rebekah still slung over his shoulder when a voice stopped him.

"Damon?"

He turned his head to see Caroline walking into the room, holding Ellie, who was playing with Caroline's necklace. His eyes widened a bit; how had he nearly forgotten they were still here? "I'm going to get Elena," Damon explained and Caroline nodded. "I know; I heard you talking to Katherine." Caroline's face looked frightened. "Did he really hurt her?"

Damon nodded. "I heard her screaming…"

Caroline's lip trembled. "This is awful…"

Damon dropped Rebekah to the floor carelessly and walked over to Caroline, sighing and giving her a hug. "It's going to be okay, Caroline; I'm going to get her back. Everything will be fine…"

"He knew about Katherine; did he know about Ellie…?"

Damon shook his head. "No, he doesn't. But I need you to stay with her while I'm gone, alright?"

Caroline nodded. "Of course."

Damon gave her a small smile. "Thank you, Caroline."

She nodded and Damon bent down to give Ellie a small kiss atop her head, and then quickly grabbed Rebekah and was gone.

… . … . … . … . …

Klaus hung up the phone and glanced down at Elena, who was lying on the floor, tears of pain in her eyes, he legs and arms bent at odd angles from being forcefully broken. She was snivelling in agony and Klaus frowned at her. "If you think that's bad, you'd better hope your knight in shining armor comes through. Otherwise, you're in for a world of agony, my dear."

She whimpered, hiding her face behind her hair.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Come on, love," he said, scooping her up and carrying her back over to the bed where he lied her down, sitting beside her. "Now," he grinned at her, "let's do something fun to pass the time, shall we? We have about an hour left; why don't we have a little chat?"

He pulled her vervain necklace from her throat and tossed it across the room, staring into her eyes, compelling her. "_Tell me who it is Damon promised you he would protect._"

_**A/N: Hey, guys! I just want to apologize about how far in between my chapters and updates for my stories have become. I made myself a TVD roleplay Twitter account, and I've been having so much fun that I keep forgetting to post! It is March Break, though, so I think I'll have plenty of time for both. ;) Also, speaking of TVD Twitter roleplay; do any of you guys have accounts? If so, put them in your review! You can follow me (I'm Elena, but the way; hehe!) WhichSalvatore! Thank you for reading, and remember to review, everyone! XOXO-Charlie'sLostVampire **_


	16. Remembrance and Leverage

Damon pressed the gas of Elena's SUV down to the floor, sending the car flying down the highway as fast as it could possibly go. He had Rebekah stashed on the floor of the backseat, still daggered in her homecoming dress, ready to be delivered to her brother.

Damon didn't even care that he was breaking about twenty laws at the moment; he had to get to Elena before Klaus could do anymore damage. He swerved into the parking lot of the Hilton around one a.m., and slammed on the brakes, throwing the car door open and storming out, leaving Rebekah in the back.

The night manager looked up in confusion when Damon threw the doors open with such force that the glass cracked. Her eyes widened. "Sir, you're going to pay for that…!"

He blurred up to the desk and glared at her, his eyes dilating. "_You don't give a damn about the door._"

She nodded. "How can I help you, sir?"

"_The key for access to the private presidential suite floor; now!_"

She looked upset. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't give that to you…"

"Why?" Damon snapped. The woman bit her lip. "Both keys are out, sir. One was given to a Mrs. Elena Salvatore, and the other to a Mr. Jackson Baits."

Damon glared. "Who the hell is Jackson Baits?"

She frowned again. "I'm not allowed to say."

Damon's glare deepened; _Klaus. _Klaus had compelled the front desk girl to give him the other key, and then to lie about who had it. _The bastard!_

Damon glared into the woman's eyes. "_Call Mr. Baits down, and tell him Damon Salvatore is here with a special delivery for him._"

She nodded, "Right away, sir." She walked over to the front desk phone, punching in a few numbers and waiting.

… . … . … . … . …

Klaus was lounging in one of the many red velvet arm chairs in the parlor of the presidential private floor when he heard the phone ring across the room. He frowned and stood up, walking over and picking it up.

"Jackson Baits speaking," he responded smoothly.

"_Hello, Mr. Baits? You have a visitor down in the lobby. He says he has a special delivery for you._"

Klaus took a sip of his glass of whiskey, raising an eyebrow. "A special delivery, eh? Who is this man you speak of?"

"_He says his name is Damon Salvatore._"

Klaus chuckled. "Tell him I'll be right down to… accept my package. Oh, and Crystal?"

"_Yes, Mr. Baits?_"

Klaus grinned. "Tell Mr. Salvatore his wife says hello."

He hung up the phone and walked down the red carpeted hallway, opening the master suite door. Elena was out cold on the bed, having finally passed out from the agony running through her body. She had been that way for a few hours now. Oh, it would be comical to see Damon's reaction; but he had more pressing matters to deal with. He walked into the room and picked up her vervain necklace off the floor, walking over to her and refastening it around her neck. Damon would suspect nothing. He felt a pang of remembrance at fastening the necklace around her neck, as he had done so with Tatia a few millenniums ago. It had been a beautiful necklace, a chain of silver and a pendant made from wood of the white oak tree he had fashioned himself…

_"Tatia, love; I have a surprise for you._"

_Tatia looked up from her sewing, her brown curls blowing in the breeze around her as Niklaus approached. She smiled. "A surprise better than that Elijah gave me a few fortnights ago?"_

_ Niklaus frowned. "Just what has Elijah given you?"_

_ "A lovely necklace from the witch Ayana. Look," Tatia said, pulling the bulky gold pendant out from the bodice of her dress. It was the same pendant Niklaus' mother owned, and warned her children had powers beyond their wildest imagination. It was to never be placed around a young woman's neck, or shall place a curse upon her, making her existence continue for thousands of years. Clearly, Elijah had stolen the necklace, not heeding his mother's warning. Or, rather, improperly interoperating it. _

_ Niklaus smiled. "Elijah stole that from our mother, love; my gift I can assure you has not belonged to anyone else."_

_ Tatia dropped the necklace, letting it fall to her chest as she curiously appraised him. "Can you?" she challenged. Niklaus grinned. "I most definitely can. I fashioned it myself," he said, pulling the wooden 13 pointed star pendant from his pocket, the breeze ruffling his long, dark blond curls. Tatia's eyes widened as she stood and rushed over to him. "Nik… it is incredible. It must have taken ages…" _

_ Niklaus grinned as he fastened the necklace around her throat. "You are worth the time it took me, love; I shall only hope you are kind enough to repay my time with the same amount of yours being spent with me."_

_ Tatia smiled. "Of course, Niklaus. Just how much do I owe you?"_

_ Little did Tatia know the necklace remained unfinished, and Niklaus responded with…_

"Always and forever, my love…"

Klaus absentmindedly stroked Elena's cheek, lost in memories of his lost love from the past. He shook himself, remembering that there was work to be done. Bending down, he grinned and whispered in Elena's ear, "Thank you for the chat, love," and kissed her cheek before whisking down to the elevator.

… . … . … . … . …

Damon stood at the front desk, his arms crossed across his chest angrily as he impatiently waited for Klaus to show up. When he finally did, he felt his fury build when he saw he was alone.

"Where the hell is Elena?" Damon croaked as he stormed up to him. Klaus grinned. "Never fear, mate," he assured him, "You're girl is sleeping away upstairs. Now, where's _my _girl?"

"Give me the damn key for the floor first," Damon spat angrily and Klaus chuckled, handing it over. "Now; where is my sister?"

"She's in the car. Take her and get the hell out of here," Damon said and Klaus frowned a bit. "Why don't you come with me, mate, so I know you aren't bluffing?"

Damon sneered but followed Klaus out the door, which still had a large crack in it from his outburst earlier, and brushed past him, stalking over to the SUV and yanking the door open. "There's your damn sister," Damon snapped. "Take her, and leave."

Klaus grinned. "Thank you, mate. Now… the rest of my family?"

Damon stayed silent for a minute before saying, "They're in the old witch house. The witches are keeping them hidden."

Klaus grabbed Rebekah and tossed Damon a last grin. "Tell Elena I say goodbye."

Damon had started to turn when Klaus suddenly got his attention again. "Oh, and Damon?"

"What?" Damon snapped.

Klaus grinned. "Don't think I don't still have leverage over you."

Then he was gone. Damon stood baffled for a second before he flashed back into the hotel and over to the elevator, getting in and inserting the key to allow the doors to open on the private floor. The slowness of the elevator drove him insane, and he dashed in a vampire speed when the golden doors finally opened. He followed the sound of Elena's heartbeat into the master suite, and sucked in a sharp, horrified breath. "Oh, my God," he moaned when he saw the state she was in. Every single one of her limbs bent at an awkward angle, and she wasn't sleeping; she was unconscious. What all had the bastard done to her? What had he done just because he had refused to cooperate?

Feeling agonizing guilt, Damon made his way over to Elena and sat on the bed, brushing hair out of her face. "Sweetheart," he moaned, "Wake up."

She stirred, and began to whimper. "Please don't hurt me again…"

"No, angel," he whispered, tenderly stroking her face. "It's Damon; Klaus is gone. He isn't going to hurt you anymore, I promise."

She started to cry. "Damon…?"

He felt tears brimming in his own eyes. "Yes, Elena," he assured her and she started sobbing. "Damon, he br-broke my l-legs and my a-a-a-rms….!"

"Oh, sweetheart, I know," Damon said, tears trailing down his cheeks. "I know. God, I'm so sorry…" he moaned, gently pulling her into his lap so as not to hurt her.

"El-El-lie…?"

"Ellie is fine, angel," he assured her, kissing her forehead. "She's perfectly fine. Caroline is watching her, and we have Stefan locked up."

Elena relaxed her head against his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut. Damon kissed her forehead. "Let me heal you," he whispered, gently stroking her hair. She whimpered and nodded weakly, and Damon bit into his wrist, holding it out to her. Elena closed her lips over it and started to drink, and Damon held her close as she did. After a few moments he pulled back and Elena sighed. "Thank you…"

"Of course, sweetheart," he said, shifting her so she was more comfortable in his arms.

"Can we go home…?" she whispered and he nodded, kissing her hair. "Of course," he said, gently scooping her up into his arms. She snuggled into his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck. He grabbed her bag from the floor and slung it over his shoulder, carrying her to the elevator.

… . … . … . … . …

"…and then Cinderella and her prince lived happily ever after."

Caroline sat on the couch with Ellie in her arms, with Jeremy, Matt, and Alaric all sitting around the living room around them, Alaric draining a tumbler of Damon's bourbon. Caroline had been telling Ellie "Cinderella" in attempt to get her to sleep, and Ellie had finally drifted off in her arms. After Damon left, the baby had cried for a solid three hours. Clearly, she didn't like being held by anyone other than Elena or Damon for very long.

"I'm going to take her up to bed," Caroline whispered and the men all nodded, looking bored. Caroline stood and started for the door, confused when she heard a knock on the door. Damon wouldn't knock at his own house, and practically their entire group was already there. Bonnie was upstairs, making sure that Ellie's bedroom had spells up so that no one suspicious could enter. Confused, Caroline walked over to the door and opened it.

She gasped in horror when she saw who it was, attempting to slam the door shut again. A restraining hand flew forward though, pushing against her grip easily to reveal his smiling face standing there. He walked in, grinning. "Hello, Caroline, love."

Klaus stood before her, grinning like a minx.

"And this… must be Ellie."

_**Hey guys! Sorry about the wait on this chapter; my spacebar on my keyboard wasn't working for a few days, so typing took a bit longer than usual. What do you think? I'm sorry if it's a bit short; the next few will be longer, I promise. Also, if you're looking for something to read while you wait for updates, you should totally read "The Runaways" by KeKe113; it's a great story, by one of my favorite authors on the site. Remember to rate a review, everyone! XOXO-Charlie'sLostVampire**_


	17. Death

_**A/N: Might I just say, some of you are going to hate me for what I did at the end of this chapter. I kind of despise myself for doing it. But… it ended up having to be done, as the only way to move forward in the story. I beg of you; please don't hate me too much! -Charlie'sLostVampire**_

… _**. … . … . … . …**_

_** Previously in "I Tink I Wuv You, Day-min"**_

"_I'm going to take her up to bed," Caroline whispered and the men all nodded, looking bored. Caroline stood and started for the stairs, confused when she heard a knock on the door. Damon wouldn't knock at his own house, and practically their entire group was already there. Bonnie was upstairs, making sure that Ellie's bedroom had spells up so that no one suspicious could enter. Confused, Caroline walked over to the door and opened it. _

_ She gasped in horror when she saw who it was, attempting to slam the door shut again. A restraining hand flew forward though, pushing against her grip easily to reveal his smiling face standing there. He walked in, grinning. "Hello, Caroline, love."_

_ Klaus stood before her, grinning like a minx. _

_ "And this… must be Ellie."_

… _. … . … . … . …_

"Get out," Caroline spat, holding Ellie close and backing away. Klaus chuckled. "You have nothing to fear, Caroline; I'm not so sadistic as to harm an infant."

"Aren't you?" Caroline spat and Klaus grinned. "I suppose I can see why you would think that…"

"What do you want?" Caroline choked out, trying not to sound intimidated. Klaus shrugged. "Elena was telling me about your group's latest edition, and I simply had to see her for myself."

Caroline glared. "You're lying; Elena would have never told you."

"Oh, but she did!" Klaus said. "How else would I know her name? Or where she came from? How old she is, her favorite food, that Damon sings to her in French when she cries…" Klaus grinned at the astonished look on Caroline's face. "Surprised, love?"

"Why would she tell you all of that?" Caroline whimpered in horror; there was no way it had been willing. Klaus shrugged, walking into the parlor and pouring himself a drink, ignoring the shocked gasps from the human men. "Elena and I are friends; well, more so acquaintances, I suppose. She seemed to see fit to tell me."

"Don't be such a lying ass…" Caroline had started when Bonnie walked down the stairs. "Care, the spells are fin…"

The witch trailed off when she noticed who was standing in the parlor. Klaus smiled. "Bonnie! Just the witch I was hoping to find here. I was hoping you could do me a little favor."

Bonnie turned on her heal and dashed for the stairs again, and Klaus rolled his eyes. "Why do they always run when I ask them that?"

He took off in a flash after her, noticing her run into one of the spare bedrooms. He chuckled. "Looks like you've come to a dead end, love…"

He sprinted forward, and gasped in shock and confused fury when he came in contact with a force field as hard as running into a metal door. He glared, pounding on the solid air that was blocking his entrance to where Bonnie stood, grinning at him. "What in the hell is this?" Klaus spat. Bonnie laughed. "It's a spell; untrustworthy people can't enter the room of the infant. The witches invented it to keep evil supernatural entities away from the children."

Klaus glared. "You can't stay in there forever, Bonnie. I, however, can stay out here longer than forever. So we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way."

Bonnie grinned. "There is no easy way. Only the hard way. I don't have to come out of here unless I want to. I would rather die than help you."

Klaus glared. "I warning you, you stupid little witch…" he then whirled at the sound of someone rushing toward them. He grabbed onto Caroline's speeding figure just in time to prevent her from running inside with Ellie. "Not so fast, darling," he said in a frightening tone, restraining her. "I haven't even gotten to hold little Ellie yet."

"You aren't going to!" Caroline cried, fighting his grip on her arm.

"I shall do whatever I want, love, and there's nothing you can do about it," Klaus said, grabbing her other arm to stop her struggling attempts to get free. "I told Damon I have leverage, and I do…"

"Let her go!"

Klaus grunted in surprise when something sharp plunged into his back; a butcher's knife. He snarled and used one hand to yank it free, still holding Caroline back. He whirled to see the attacker was Matt, looking furious and terrified at the same time. "That was incredibly stupid, Matthew," Klaus snarled at him. Matt was expecting Klaus to jump at him at any moment now. In fact, that had been his plan; infuriate Klaus, make him lunge and release Caroline and Ellie so they could run into the room, keeping them safe. If he died doing it, so be it; he would take one for the team. He felt it would be the most useful thing he had done all night…

He, Bonnie, and Caroline all gasped in shock at what he did next, though. Instead of grabbing Matt, he snatched Ellie out of Caroline's arms, dumping the blonde vampire aside. He now held Ellie in his arms in an almost protective way. If not for the fact he had the blood stained knife poised by her tiny throat, they would have assumed he cared for her. Ellie was awake and wailing loudly in fright and discomfort. "Don't!" Bonnie screamed and Caroline made a dive for them. "Ah ah ah," Klaus chided, moving the blade closer to Ellie when she did so. Caroline froze. "Don't hurt her," she moaned.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. Then again, I also would never dream of hurting Elena, but I was very quick to snap her limbs when Damon tried to lie to me."

There was a sharp intake of breath at his words amongst the others. Alaric and Jeremy had arrived as well at hearing the commotion. "Hand over the baby, you jackass," Alaric spat and Klaus chuckled. "Of course, Mr. Saltzman; as soon as Bonnie comes out of that room and helps me, I'll be more than happy to return little Ellie her to you."

Caroline turned to the door. "Bonnie, come out," she said, her voice desperate and pleading. She couldn't let anything happen to Ellie. Not after what had happened to Elena when she was left with her at the park. She couldn't let something bad happen again when she was supposed to be taking care of a baby.

Bonnie looked regretful. "Care… I can't."

Caroline whimpered and Klaus' expression darkened as he pressed the blade to Ellie's throat. "Come out, you little bitch, or the baby dies. I have to problem with killing it; she's of no use to me whatsoever."

"Bonnie, come out!" Caroline sobbed, but Bonnie shook her head. "I can't, Caroline! Whatever it is he wants me to do… the consequences of me doing it will be worse than the baby dying."

Klaus tutted. "Tisk tisk, Bonnie; a bit selfish, don't you think? Think of what poor Elena will think when she finds her baby, headless in its cradle…"

Caroline sobbed more hysterically. "Please," she sobbed to him. "Don't hurt her. Don't hurt the baby; hurt me instead!"

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her offer. "Interesting proposal, my sweet; but why?"

Caroline glared through her tears. "I'm not going to let you kill a baby, you bastard!"

Klaus chuckled. "Such a tender creature, aren't you, Caroline?"

She glared. "Shut the hell up and let Ellie go!"

Klaus' frown returned. "As lovely as your offer is, it has no power behind it. Hurting you would be pointless; you will heal. Hurting this precious little bundle of joy here would be perfect."

He looked back at Bonnie. "So, Miss Bennett, what will it be; you come out and help me, or Ellie loses her head?"

Ellie was wailing even louder now, and Caroline was sobbing along with her. Bonnie was about to answer when Klaus perked up. "Well, would you look at that," he said with a grin that unsettled Bonnie greatly. "Mommy and Daddy are home now."

Klaus turned to Alaric. "Why don't you go let them in, chap? See what they think when they come up to give their baby a kiss, and see… this?"

Klaus pressed the blade down a bit, causing beads of blood to appear on Ellie's neck. Her wailing silenced, and her eyes grew big and agonized. "Stop!" Caroline sobbed, "Please!"

"Go," Klaus instructed Alaric, and he unwillingly went down the stairs to greet Damon and Elena.

… . … . … . … . …

"There we go; easy, angel," Damon said to Elena, helping her get out of the car. Her bones were entirely healed, but she was still weak and tired from all the pain she had been put through. She wrapped her arm around Damon's neck as he helped her out, supporting her around the waist so she wouldn't stumble. He gave her a small smile. "We're home."

She nodded weakly, and he helped her walk to the door. To his surprise, Alaric opened it before he even had the chance. "Ric," he said, confused at his friend's expression. "Is everything okay…?"

"It's Klaus," he said, and Damon had Elena in his arms in a flash, ready to bolt. "What do you mean?" he snapped. Alaric shook his head when he saw Damon's stance. "Running won't do any good; he's upstairs waiting for you."

"He's _what…_?"

"Damon," Alaric choked out, "He has Ellie."

Damon's face, if possible, grew even paler than it naturally was. "No," he said, horrified at the thought of that bastard hurting the only two things he cared about all in one night. Alaric nodded and Damon was in the house and at the top of the stairs in a flash, Elena still in his arms. He gasped in a sharp, horrified breath at the sight he was witnessing; Ellie was being held tightly by Klaus, her tiny face red from contained sobs, her blue eyes big and watery, and there were small drops of blood forming at her neck where Klaus had a knife pressed.

"Let her go," Damon snapped, setting Elena on her feet and moving her behind him. "Klaus, there isn't any reason to hurt her; I gave you what you wanted!"

"It isn't you I'm threatening, mate," Klaus said with a grin. "It's her."

Damon and Elena's gazes followed Klaus' casual jerk of his head, seeing Bonnie standing in Ellie's room, looking mortified. "Bonnie…?" Elena whispered.

"I'm sorry, Elena," Bonnie choked out, "I can't do what he's asking me to do…"

Damon was glaring daggers at Klaus. "How twisted are you? How could you even consider hurting a baby, no matter how sick you are?"

"Because, Damon, unlike you I don't have a soft spot for adorable little girls. If anything, I find them annoying and whiney. Which means I have no problem with killing your precious princess if Bonnie doesn't give me what I want."

"Bonnie…?" Elena whimpered again, tears in her eyes. How could her best friend be so willing to let Ellie die…?

"Give me the baby, Klaus," Damon snarled.

"Ah, but she's my leverage…"

"I said, give me the baby!"

Klaus frowned. "She makes you weak, Damon. Weaker than Elena does. Do you want to be weak…?"

"_GIVE ME MY FUCKING DAUGHTER!_"

Everyone in the room went silent at Damon's screamed words. He was trembling in fury, his eyes burning. "I'll do whatever the hell you want; give her to me now!"

"Anything?" Klaus asked.

"Damon, no," Elena whimpered.

"Anything," Damon responded plainly, not caring what price he would have to pay to have Ellie safe in his arms.

Klaus grinned. "Go into the baby's room."

Damon motioned for Caroline to come stand in front of Elena, and then walked into Ellie's room with absolutely no trouble. "Now what?" he snarled impatiently.

"Bring Bonnie out."

"Give Ellie to Elena first."

"No," Klaus said, tightening his grip on the baby. "Bring Bonnie out."

Damon grinned forcedly, shaking his head. "I have leverage now, Klaus," he said and Klaus frowned. "You certainly do not…!"

In the next second Damon had pounced on Bonnie and had her neck exposed, yanking her hair to the side. His fangs were drawn and he looked menacing. "Either you give the baby to Elena, or I kill her."

Klaus' lip twitched. "You wouldn't dare; Elena would hate you."

"Funny thing is, she'll hate me if I let Ellie die, too. So give her the damn baby. _Now._"

Klaus glared, refusing to give in. "I'm calling your bluff, Da…"

He trailed off when Damon sank his fangs into Bonnie's neck, drawing an agonized scream from her as he had so long ago. Everyone outside the room screamed in horror, and Klaus gasped a bit in shock. Damon pulled his fangs out and let Bonnie fall to the floor, her blood smeared on his lips. "If you think, for one second," Damon said, stalking up to the door, "That I will not kill every single one of them out there other than Elena to protect Ellie, you are severely mistaken. I would do it without a second thought. So either you give Elena the baby, or I kill your only way of ever getting your coffins back."

Klaus lip twitched, but he walked over to Elena, passing her Ellie, keeping the knife in his hand. Elena held the frighteningly silent baby close, backing away from Klaus in disgust. He turned to Damon again, glaring. "Bring her out."

Damon knelt down beside Bonnie. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her before helping her up and forcing her out of the room. Klaus grinned, walking toward them. "Thank you, mate…!"

Klaus suddenly screamed in agony and fell to his knees, his eyes wild and wide. Everyone gasped in shock as he went up in flames, a white oak stake having been plunged into his back. When the flames stopped, burning Klaus and the stake with them and leaving only a pile of ash, they all gasped at who the attacker was.

"Elijah?" Elena gasped in shock as Damon protectively wrapped his arms around her and Ellie both. Elijah, looking as dashing as ever, grinned. "You didn't really think Stefan was coming back to Mystic Falls for no reason, did you?"

_**Again; I'm so sorry! Killing him was never originally my intention… it just sorta happened. :'( Do you all despise me now? I hope not; even if you do, I promise to still love you. Remember to review!**_


	18. What If She Isn't Safe With Us?

"There you are, my dear," Elijah said, passing Bonnie a crystal wine glass filled to the brim with his blood. "That will heal that nasty bite of yours…"

Everyone was sitting in the parlor, awaiting Elijah's explanation. When he mentioned Bonnie's "bite" all eyes turned to Damon, and he frowned. "I wasn't really going to kill her! I just… needed to convey a message."

Bonnie snorted angrily as she drank the blood, sitting down beside Matt. Damon glared at her before looking away. Elena sat beside him, protectively cradling Ellie as she drank from a bottle filled with Damon's blood. Jeremy and Alaric were upstairs, cleaning up the… remnants of Klaus. "Well," Damon said, frowning. "Explain yourself."

Elijah poured himself a glass of bourbon before sitting down in a leather arm chair. "Well, as I said; Stefan came back to town for a reason. Didn't you find it the slightest bit odd that he said he would arrive here by nightfall, and not right away?"

Damon frowned; he had just assumed his brother was trying to be "showy". Now Elijah was saying he had had other business to tend to before he got here and tried to kill Ellie? "It doesn't matter if it was odd or not; what the hell was he doing, and what does it have to do with you?"

Elijah grinned. "He decided it was time to rid himself of my brother, but knew he would never be able to do it alone. So… he undaggered the most trustworthy of the Original siblings."

"I don't understand," Elena said. "Where did you get the stake? The only one in existence was used on Mikael at homecoming…"

"Well, it would appear that my family didn't expect one little problem in the future when we burned down that tree."

Elena and Damon both frowned. "What…?"

"That it would grow back a thousand years later," Elijah said darkly. Damon's blue eyes widened. "You mean there's been a damn tree all this time…?"

"Don't ask me where it is, because I don't intend on telling you. If I see it necessary to kill any of my siblings, I will take it upon myself to do so. Therefore, only I need to know where the tree is. But, you should know that I do plan on removing the daggers from my sister and brothers."

Damon, whose arm had been wrapped around Elena, tightened his hold a bit. If Rebekah was to be undaggered…

"No," Damon shook his head. "Rebekah stays daggered."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "I assure you my sister will do no harm to you or your… family." He seemed a bit perplexed by the baby Elena was holding, but didn't press for details. Damon, however, didn't seem satisfied. "She's going to come after Elena as soon as you pull that dagger out! She'll want her dead!"

Elena cringed at his words, but knew he was telling the truth. Elijah was shaking his head. "I will not allow Rebekah to get anywhere near Elena. I intend on leaving this country before removing their daggers. It will take a few years to get my brothers adjusted to this fast paced world; they are even less accustomed than Rebekah was. You shall not hear from myself, nor my sister, for at least three years."

Damon frowned. "Why three years in specific?"

"Because," Elijah said, as though it should be obvious, "I happen to know what is in my brother's other coffin, and I plan on returning for it in three years' time. Until then, I would appreciate it if you all could leave it exactly where it is, and keep it protected."

"What's in it?" Bonnie asked as she finished the blood.

Elijah smiled a bit. "My mother."

Elena gasped. "But Klaus killed her!"

Elijah frowned. "Yes, Niklaus did. But my mother was, and always will be, a very powerful witch. If she sees fit, when I open that coffin she may return to us. If not, at least I can rest at ease knowing she is at peace."

He stood and placed the crystal tumbler on a lamp table. "I certainly hope that this is the end of all of your troubles involving my family, and I wish you all the best. Please, be sure to thank Stefan again for me."

With that, Elijah disappeared. Elena couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Is it… actually over?" she asked in disbelief. "We're safe?"

Damon absentmindedly stroked her hair as he stared into the fireplace. "I don't know. I suppose we'll just have to talk to Stefan and find out if the _honorable sibling _is telling the truth."

Elena perked up a bit at that. "Let me do it," she said, and Damon frowned. "What? Why?"

Caroline, who had been silent ever since Elijah showed up, finally stood. "Bonnie, Matt; we should go see if Ric and Jeremy need help."

Bonnie frowned. "Why would they need help cleaning up a little bit of ash?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "It's the least you can do, seeing as though you were going to let Ellie die."

Bonnie couldn't argue with that and stood up, following Matt and Caroline out of the parlor, shooting Damon a glare before she left the room. Elena gently rocked Ellie and put her bottle on the table beside the couch, turning her head to look at Damon. "Damon… I need to talk to him."

Damon felt his world crashing around him at her words, and Stefan's taunting began to echo in his mind yet again_; "You know it's true, Damon! Once she gets back here and sees that I've returned, compulsion free, she'll run straight back into my arms, just like Katherine would. You know it's true, and there's nothing you can do about it."_

Elena frowned in confusion when she saw the hurt in his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, reaching over to touch his cheek. He looked down and shook his head, standing up. "It's nothing," he muttered, starting to leave the room. "Damon!" Elena called after him in confusion, standing up and following him, Ellie still in her arms. "Hey," she said, grabbing his hand and turning him to face her. "Why are you so upset? What did I say…?"

Damon's lip twitched. "It's him, Elena," he said in a hoarse voice. "Compulsion free."

Elena frowned. "So?"

"So, give it a few months, and he'll be happily hopping down the bunny trail again; the exact same guy you met a year ago."

Elena's eyes widened as the pieces began to click together. She frowned, feeling horrible. "You think I'm going to go back to him," she said and he looked away, his face stony. "Why wouldn't you?" he asked. "You loved him. You spent all summer trying to get him back. Here he is; yours for the taking. You'd have to be an idiot to choose the drunken brother over Saint Stefan."

Elena frowned, taking his chin in her hand and making him look at her. "Yes, I loved him," she said firmly. "I probably always will. He was the first guy I ever really had something with Damon."

Damon pulled out of her grip, stalking toward the stairs; he couldn't listen to it. He couldn't hear her say aloud that she didn't want him anymore…

"But what we had… wasn't it."

Damon paused on the stairs, turning to face her. "What? What do you mean it wasn't _it…?_"

"I mean, there was nothing really there. When I was with Stefan…" she sighed, trying to think of what to say. "It was like a security blanket; my parents had just died, and he made me feel safe. I thought I loved him. Right up until he left I honestly thought he was all I would ever want."

Damon frowned; what was she trying to say?

"But what Stefan and I had… it wasn't special. It was like being in a relationship with someone… but that was all it was. I thought it was love… but I was wrong."

She took a few steps toward where he lingered on the stairs, hanging on her every word. "Love isn't just someone who makes you feel safe or wanted; it's someone who makes you angry. It's someone who makes you want to scream and sob, and break something. Love is when you can feel like jumping from a cliff one moment, and then like you'll never stop laughing the next. Love is _feeling. _With Stefan… all I felt was numb. In all honesty, I wasn't even happy. I wanted more, but he couldn't give it to me. Then he left. He leaving gave me a chance to learn what love really is. It doesn't happen overnight… it takes time. The longer it takes to build, the stronger it will be. True love is when a person would die to be with you, but would kill themselves on the inside by staying away, because they knew it was what you wanted. It's when you would give up your life to protect someone, but would never let them do the same for you in return. True love is passionate, and crazy, and it makes me want to rip my heart out at times for feeling the way it does… _but I feel it. _I don't feel it for Stefan, and I never could. Damon, I love you. I am more in love with you than I've ever been with anyone before, _and it_ _will always be you. _No matter what he might say down there to try and change my mind, that chapter of my life is over. I'm moving on… and I want to move on with you by my side; forever."

Damon was stunned speechless. He couldn't believe what she had just said…

"Damon," Elena prodded, standing at the foot of the stairs. "Say something."

The next second Damon was at the foot of the stairs before her, his lips attacking hers. He was crying tears of pure joy at her confession, and he knew he never wanted to stop kissing her. Never. "I love you so much…" he choked out beneath her lips. "God, I love you…"

Elena pulled away, her own eyes shimmering as she held Ellie in her arms. "Do you believe me?"

"Yes…" he mumbled into her hair as he held her. "Yes, of course I do…"

She smiled and snuggled close to him. Ellie began to cry at that exact moment, and they separated. Elena smiled at Damon. "Why don't you take her for a while? I'll go talk to Stefan while you take care of her."

Damon smiled softly and nodded, accepting the baby and walking off into the kitchen to make her a bottle. Elena smiled as she watched him walk off, and then turned and started for the basement.

… . … . … . … . …

"Stefan?" Elena called as she walked down the creaky old stairs into the damp, cold basement. She shivered at the creepy atmosphere; she hated coming down here alone. "Stefan, I know you're down here," she called again as she began to walk down the row of stone cells.

She cringed back from one of the doors when she heard laughter from inside; weak, delirious laughter. "Hello, Elena."

She walked slowly up to the thick wooden door's barred windows, peaking inside. She was a bit surprised to find him chained to a chair, grinning at her. "Stefan?" she said quietly and he chuckled. "Finally decided to come take a peek at the chained animal?" he said hoarsely, laughing again. Elena cringed. "This is for your own good, Stefan. We want to help you…"

"Help me?" Stefan barked out a laugh. "Oh, that's rich, Elena," he said, grinning at her, his eyes dark. Elena frowned, clutching the bars. "What do you mean?"

Stefan glared. "If you wanted to help me, you wouldn't have let my brother screw you."

Elena tightened her grip on the bars, suddenly angry. "You left, Stefan. You didn't have any claim on me…"

"We never broke up, Elena!" Stefan snarled. "I was still your boyfriend, and you went behind my back and fucked my brother while I was gone trying to _protect you…!_"

"Protect me?" Elena snapped, flinging the door open angrily and stalking inside. "Nothing you've done for the past two months has been to _protect me! _While you were around ripping people's necks out and playing twister with sorority girls, I was here worrying about you! You never even _tried _to contact me. I thought you were _dead!_"

Suddenly furious, she picked up a fistful of vervain off of the cell floor and flung it at his face. He snarled and snapped when it burned his skin, that was slick with sweat from the vervain he had in his body. "You little bitch…" he snarled at her and she glared. "I may be a lot of things, Stefan, but a bitch isn't one of them. I spent all summer searching for you…"

"While you slept with my brother…"

"_I've only slept with Damon once, you asshole!_" she snapped, tears filling her eyes. "It only happened two weeks ago! Up until that point I didn't even consider doing it! I did it because he was the only person around who loved me!"

"I never stopped loving you!" Stefan yelled at her and tears fell down Elena's cheeks as she took a few steps back. "It's too late, Stefan," she choked out. "I don't want anything to do with you, and I never will ever again. We're going to keep you locked down here until the human blood is out of your system, and then we're only going to give you animal blood. You're going to stop being the son of a bitch ripper you've turned into, whether you like it or not." Tears continued to leak down Elena's cheek as she said the last few words before leaving the cell. "I won't have you be like this around my daughter."

Stefan laughed coldly. "What the hell is up with that? Who's the fucking baby?"

Elena glared. "Her name is Ellie."

With that Elena stormed out of the cell, slamming the door and stalking down the row of cells and up the stairs, leaving Stefan's psychotic and furious laughter behind her.

… . … . … . … . … . …

Damon stared at the sunrise on the dark horizon as he fed Ellie her bottle, rocking her back and forth. The sky was beginning to turn red and orange with the rising sun as he gently swung the two of them on the porch swing on the back porch of the Salvatore boarding house. He smiled as her lips began to go limp on the bottle and she finally drifted off to sleep in his arms. Gently he pulled the bottle away, setting it down on the iron table beside the swing.

He looked up in confusion when the door opened and Elena walked out, looking on the verge of sobbing. "Elena," he said, frowning at her expression as she stood, tears pouring down her cheeks, staring at the rising sun. "What happened?"

She turned her head to look at him. "He's such a jackass," she whimpered. Damon felt a pang of anger at Stefan for whatever he had said, and held his hand out for Elena. She walked forward and sat on the cushioned swing beside him, snuggling close to him under his arm. He kissed her temple as he held both her and Ellie close. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked her quietly and she snuggled closer, drying her tears on his dark shirt. "He… he accused me of sleeping with you the entire time he was gone, and he… he called Ellie… _the fucking baby._"

Damon tightened his grip around her arms and he glared into the distance. "Don't listen to a word he says, Elena; he doesn't mean it. He's thirsty, and pissed off, and is just trying to bother you…"

Elena softly stroked Ellie's cheek as they both lied on Damon's chest, and Elena looked up at Damon. "Do you… do you think he'll ever… accept us?"

Damon gave her a soft kiss. "It doesn't matter what he thinks," he whispered to her, leaning his forehead against hers. "All that matters, and all that ever will matter, is that you're happy."

She smiled softly, shutting her eyes as she leaned into him. "I am happy. Happier than I've been in a long time…" she met his eyes. "I have Ellie, Klaus is gone for good… and I have you."

Damon smiled and kissed her again. Elena returned his kiss as a few rays of sunlight reached their spot, basking the three of them in soft orange light as the wind softly swayed the swing back and forth. Damon grinned when he pulled away, softly chuckling. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this…"

Elena brushed a lock of black hair out of his eyes. "Get used to what?" He smiled and shut his eyes, leaning close to her ear. "Kissing you…" he breathed and Elena shivered, smiling. She met his eyes and leaned over, kissing him again. "You should get used to it," she said a bit breathlessly when she pulled away, "because I don't plan on stopping."

Damon chuckled and kissed her forehead, and they looked up when the door opened. Alaric stood there, and he smiled a bit. "I'm going to take Jeremy home. He's falling asleep in there."

Elena nodded and Damon grinned, running a hand through her hair. Alaric smiled and ducked back inside, shutting the door behind him.

… . … . … . …

Alaric found Caroline sitting by herself silently in the parlor. He frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"What?" she looked up, and he realized she had been crying. "Oh; yeah," she sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm fine…"

Alaric frowned more deeply, concerned, and walked over to sit beside her. "What's wrong?"

She sniffled miserably. "I'm a horrible person," she whimpered and Alaric frowned. "Why would you say that…?"

"Every time someone leaves a kid with me, they nearly die! It's no wonder I was turned into a vampire; it was to prevent me from ever having kids of my own…!"

Caroline was sobbing now, and Alaric's eyes widened. He honestly had no idea how to comfort a teenage girl, especially when she was going through a… vamp-life crisis? "Caroline… that's not true," he tried and she cried harder. "But it is! God, I can't even stay here; if I do, Ellie will probably die."

With that she jumped to her feet and blurred out of the room. "Caroline!" Alaric called after her, and his call was greeted with the front door swinging open and shut. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his messy brown hair. He just wasn't cut out for this stuff…

Matt and Bonnie walked down the stairs at hearing the door slam, and Bonnie frowned. "Who left?"

"Caroline," Alaric said, looking at her. "You should go see if you can find her. She was upset, and she might listen to you."

"Upset about what?" Matt asked in confusion as he sat in a leather chair.

Alaric frowned. "She thinks that every time she looks after a kid, they get hurt, and that's why she was turned into a vampire; so she can't ruin the lives of her own kids."

Bonnie frowned and headed for the door. "I'll find her."

Alaric turned to Matt when Bonnie left. "Where's Jer?"

"He crashed up in Stefan's room," Matt explained and Alaric sighed. "I think I'll just sleep on the couch; if I try to drive home now, I'll likely kill myself."

Matt glanced at the clock, a bit surprised to find it was 4:30am. "Shoot," he muttered, "I have a shift that starts at six. I have to go. Tell Elena I said bye."

"Yep," Alaric mumbled, lying on the couch and shutting his eyes.

… . … . … . … . …

"If I never see the face of an Original again, it will be too soon," Elena mumbled as she gently placed Ellie in her crib. Damon pulled the curtains shut so the rising sun wouldn't wake Ellie again. "I know," he sighed as he walked over and wrapped an arm around her, placing a kiss to her temple. "You don't have to worry anymore, angel; Klaus is finally dead, and he's not coming back."

She looked up at him as she snuggled into his arms. "But something else is bound to happen. Damon… whatever we do, trouble is going to find us. It's not safe."

She looked down at Ellie and gently rubbed her tiny hand with her thumb, tears filling her eyes. "What if Caroline was right? What if it's not safe for Ellie to have us as her parents?"

"Don't talk like that, 'Lena," he said, kissing her forehead. "Danger won't find you or Ellie ever again. Even if it means I have to buy a private island and live there for the rest of our lives; I'll do whatever it takes to protect you."

She sniffled and wiped her tears. "I just… I don't want to give her a life of danger. No child deserves to live in fear."

"She won't," Damon promised, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and hugging her to him. In all honesty, Damon was promising this to himself as much as he was Elena; he would be damned if he let any other filthy bastards touch his daughter. "I'll protect her, sweetheart. Nothing will happen ever again."

She nodded weakly and Damon sighed. "You need to sleep, Elena. It's been a long night for all of us, even more so for you."

She shook her head and her voice cracked when she spoke, "I couldn't possibly sleep. I'd end up reliving everything that happened tonight."

Damon brushed hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. "I can keep the nightmares away, princess," he whispered and she met his eyes, once again getting that melancholy dejavu feeling. "When I was little… did you do that for me?"

"Mm-hm," he nodded, kissing her cheek. "I was worried you would start seeing other horrible things that have happened to you… I didn't want you upset. I still don't."

She gave a small smile, and Damon stroked the dark circles under her eyes tenderly with his thumb. "Come on," he said, scooping her up in his arms, "let's go to bed."

She sighed and shut her eyes, cuddling into his shoulder as he left the room and walked down the hall to his, no, _their _room. Damon basically considered it as hers now, too, seeing as though she slept there possibly more than he did. He laid her down on the four poster bed and tucked the blankets around her, sitting beside her. Elena moved closer to cuddle into his side and Damon wrapped his arms around her. "Sleep," he whispered, kissing her hair. "I promise I won't let you have any nightmares."

She smiled softly and drifted into an exhausted sleep moments later. As she slept, Damon kept sweet dreams of the fairy tale land of Eleanor and Damian running through her head, chasing off the nightmares threatening to break though…


	19. Surprise

Elena woke the next morning, or, rather, later that morning to sunlight streaming brightly in through Damon's window. It was more likely afternoon, really, from the color of the sunlight. "Damon?" she called when she found his side of the bed bare of his presence. He had made good on his promise to her; not a single frightening image had appeared in her dreams last night. On the contrary; she had dreamed she was a beautiful princess, and Damon had been her prince…

She blushed at the childishness of the dream, and wondered if Damon had caused it, or if she had dreamt it up herself.

"Damon?" she called again, sitting up in the bed.

"He's in the kitchen!"

Elena was a bit surprised to hear Jeremy yell to her from down the hall, for she had assumed he and Ric went home last night. But, when she searched for the source of his voice, she found him pulling his shoes on in Stefan's room. "Hey," he said, grinning.

"Hey," she said, trying to mask her puzzled expression. "I thought you and Ric left?"

Jeremy shook his head. "I was in here with Bonnie and Matt last night, trying to find things to help Stefan rein in his humanity, and I guess I just… passed out."

Elena smiled a bit. "It was two a.m. Jer; it's okay."

He grinned and jumped up, walking over to the door. "So…" he said; this happened to be the first time he had spoken to his sister one on one since she dropped the bomb shell that was Ellie yesterday. "You and Damon, huh?"

Elena cracked a small, cautiously smile. "Yeah… what do you think about that?"

Jeremy shrugged as they began to descend the staircase. "It's cool with me. He seems to make you happy and that's all that matters."

Elena smiled at him and he returned her smile, shoving his hands in his pockets as they entered the kitchen. To Elena's surprise, it was Ric making breakfast. She giggled and walked over to Damon when she realized what he was doing. "Bath time, Daddy?" she said, smiling while she watched Damon gently rinse the baby shampoo out of Ellie's miniscule amount of hair in the sink. He chuckled and grinned at her. "You guessed it, Mommy."

She smiled as Ellie cooed happily in the small amount of water in the sink, making tiny grabby fists at her. "Good morning, princess," she said, touching Ellie's cheek. Ellie giggles, giving her a gummy grin, her blue eyes big. Elena smiled and kissed her forehead, then leaned over and kissed Damon's cheek before going to help Jeremy set the table. "Where is everyone?" she asked Alaric as he fried eggs.

"Matt left this morning to go to work," he said, and seemed to want to leave it at that. Elena frowned. "Where are Caroline and Bonnie?"

Alaric sighed. "Caroline… ran out last night. She was upset, because she thought Klaus getting in was her fault. Bonnie went after her."

Elena felt worry sink into her stomach. "They didn't come back?"

Alaric shook his head. "No sign of either of them since last night. I wouldn't worry; they probably crashed at one of their houses."

Elena sat down at the table, checking for possible missed messages or calls from last night on her phone. Nothing.

Damon grabbed the towel on the counter, gently lifting Ellie out of the sink and wrapping her up, holding her close to his chest. "Don't worry," he told Elena as he leaned against the counter, gently drying Ellie's soft baby skin. "Caroline can fend for herself, and Bonnie can do a locator spell if she needs to find her. Everything will be fine." He looked into her eyes intently, "Everything _is _fine."

Elena slowly nodded, wanting to believe he was right. Alaric put eggs on everyone's plates and they all sat down once Damon had Ellie in a little yellow sundress. He kept the baby in his lap and she snuggled into his chest, cooing and playing with his ring, which was on the hand that was supporting her. Damon smiled down at her, wiggling his ring finger, causing her to giggle. Elena smiled at them as she picked at her eggs, checking her phone yet again for messages. Damon sighed and stood up, snatching her phone away.

"Hey!" she objected, frowning. Damon placed Ellie in her lap, grinning. "Play with Ellie; Caroline and Bonnie are fine."

Elena sighed, kissing the top of Ellie's head as Damon shut off her phone and shoved it in his pants pocket.

… . … . … . … . …

Caroline rolled over in her bed, squinting against the offending light. "Damn sunlight…" she moaned, tossing a pillow at the window. She heard her bedroom door open and turned to see who it was.

"Don't damn the sun; it's not its fault you're hung over."

Caroline groaned again, burying her face in her pillow. "I thought I told you to go home?" she said to Bonnie, her voice muffled. Bonnie snorted. "Caroline, I found you nearly passed out in the Grill; I wasn't going to leave a drunken vampire alone for the night. We've all known Damon long enough to know how that turns out."

Caroline frowned and looked up, recognizing the bitter tone in Bonnie's voice when she spoke of Damon. "Will you shut up about Damon?" Caroline snapped. "He wasn't actually going to kill you! If you had just come out in the first place, he wouldn't have been forced to do that!"

"He bit me, Caroline!"

"So? He bit me hundreds of times, yet I still managed to forgive him! Until you can say he's bitten you more than twice, you need to seriously get over yourself."

Bonnie took a stunned step back. "_Get over myself…?_"

"Yes, Bonnie; get over yourself! He did it to protect Ellie, and you know that…"

"It's not even their kid, Caroline! I've known Elena for my entire life and she still chooses that baby over me in the blink of an eye…!"

"You're pathetic," Caroline spat out, shaking her head in disgust. "I never thought I would see the day where I met someone shallower than me." Her eyes darkened as she said, "Maybe that's because I've already known her my entire life."

Bonnie glared. "This coming from the girl who can't even stop talking long enough to watch a three year old at the park?"

Caroline's eyes widened at the low blow. "You bitch!" she cried, horrified that Bonnie would sink that low. "Get out!"

Bonnie whirled and stalked down the stairs, slamming the door downstairs when she left. Once she was gone, Caroline broke down, falling into her pillows, and cried.

… . … . … . … . …

"You know, today would be the perfect opportunity to go get Ellie some new things," Damon called to Elena as he fiddled with his hair, glancing in a hallway mirror. Elena heard him from her spot on the couch in the living room with Ellie in her lap, and looked up curiously when he entered. "You want to go baby shopping?" Elena asked with the faintest hint of laughter in her voice. Damon frowned. "Is it really that shocking?"

She shrugged, smiling warmly at him. "No… no, I think it's sweet," she said, her smile widening. "You want an excuse to spoil your little princess rotten, don't you?"

"Of course not," Damon said, grinning and taking Ellie from Elena, kissing the baby girl's nose. "It's impossible to spoil something this adorable rotten. She could never be rotten."

Elena laughed and stood up, walking over to stand in front of him. "So, if not to spoil her rotten, then what?"

"I plan on buying her exuberant and plentiful amounts of things she requires, and even more that she doesn't need."

"Ah," Elena nodded, grinning. "So, spoiling her rotten."

Damon shrugged, grinning. "More or less."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "You're such a good daddy…" she said, leaning up to kiss his lips. "Mm… yes I am…" he agreed, capturing her lips with his own. Ellie snuggled into Damon's arms between them, and Elena smiled down at her when she pulled away. "Did you hear that, Ellie bear?" she said, taking Ellie's tiny hand in her own. "Daddy is going to take us shopping!"

Ellie's big blue eyes stared up at Damon at the mention of the word "Daddy" and Damon grinned at her. "Come on, princess," he said, kissing her nose. "Let's go show you how to use Daddy's black card."

… . … . … . … . …

Matt was busing tables when he noticed her storm into the Grill. Bonnie, looking ready to explode, stormed straight up to him. "I need to talk to you," she snapped, grabbing his arm. He glanced around the restaurant until his eyes locked on a girl roughly his age with long curly brown hair. "Tammy!" he called and she looked up from the table she was cleaning. "Yeah?"

He motioned for her to come over and she did. "What's up?" she asked, smiling.

"Can you take this table for me?" he asked, and Tammy noticed Bonnie's hold on Matt's arm. "Yeah, sure," she said and he smiled at her before letting Bonnie pull him outside onto the front steps. "What's the matter?" he asked and Bonnie glared.

"Everyone is crazy about that stupid baby," she spat. "I don't get it."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Just last night you were saying that you would support Elena in whatever she chose to do."

"That was before Damon tried to kill me just to save _her!_"

Matt sighed. "For the last time, Bonnie, he wasn't really going to kill you…"

"It doesn't make any sense, Matt," Bonnie said. "We don't even know where this kid came from!"

Matt shrugged. "Elena said she was left on Damon's doorstep…"

"During a hurricane?" Bonnie said, shaking her head. "Who would leave a baby for someone during a tropical storm, Matt? Only someone who really wanted to get rid of their kid, that's who!"

Matt sighed, leaning against the railing. "What are you getting at, Bon?"

"I say we find out who this kid's real parents are, and why they wanted her gone so badly. Something about this isn't right."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "So, you're saying we're going to do some kind of spell to find Ellie's real parents?"

Bonnie nodded.

"What happens when we find them?"

"When we find them," Bonnie said, frowning, "we question them."

… . … . … . … . …

"Oh my gosh," Elena gushed, giggling, "look at these!"

They were standing in the best children's store for miles, and Damon and Elena already had nearly two carts full of things for Ellie, including clothes, toys, blankets, bottles, teddy bears, books, and everything else imaginable. Right now, Elena was holding the smallest pair of little black shoes she had ever seen, and was unable to contain her giggles from how adorable they were.

Damon grinned from where he stood, holding Ellie close to his chest. She had started to fuss about an hour ago, and he had bounced her gently until she drifted off to sleep. It never ceased to amaze Elena how quickly he could ease Ellie's whimpers and cries. "Put them in," he said, gesturing to the cart. She grinned and dropped them in with the other pairs of shoes they were buying, and then they scanned their items quickly. "I think that's everything she needs," Elena said, nodding.

"And everything she doesn't," Damon chuckled.

Elena grinned and began to push one of the carts toward the check out, and Damon put Ellie back in her small car seat gently, pushing their own cart after Elena. They were half way to the check out when something caught Damon's eye. "Wait a second," he said, and Elena turned around in confusion. "What is it?" she asked, and watched as Damon walked over to what appeared to be a small jewellery store. He peered curiously down into one of the display cases at a small gold chain with…

"Lapis lazuli stones."

Damon looked up in surprise when the middle aged sales woman spoke to him. "What?" he asked.

"It's lapis lazuli," she said, unlocking the case and taking out the small bracelet. Damon grinned a bit. "Oh, I know," he said, showing off his ring which was also fashioned of the same stone. "Oh," the woman giggled. "I see you're familiar with it."

He nodded and glanced at the bracelet in her hands. "How much for that?" he asked.

"Well, it's genuine four caret gold with lapis stones; $170."

Damon nodded and pulled out his credit card. "I'll take it."

The woman seemed a bit surprised by his lack of hesitation, but nodded and took his card.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at Elena, who had appeared at his side with Ellie in her arms, the carts both behind her. Damon grinned. "I forgot one crucial thing I needed to buy while spoiling my princess," he said, and smiled in thanks when the sales woman passed him the small red velvet box. He opened it to show her the bracelet. "Jewellery."

Elena's eyes widened. "Damon, it's… beautiful."

Damon chuckled and took it from the box, fastening it around Ellie's tiny wrist; a perfect fit. "There," he said, smiling in satisfaction. "Now, wherever she goes, she'll always have a little piece of her daddy with her."

Elena smiled at him.

… . … . … . … . …

Caroline was walking through the super market in town, searching for the most fattening, delicious chocolate she could find. She was still insanely hung over, which was why she was wearing her big black sunglasses in doors. She stalked out of one of the aisles, gasping when she ran into someone. "Oh, my God, I'm sorry…" she muttered.

"It's no problem, really," the voice responded. Caroline frowned. It sounded familiar. Like she had heard his voice before, but it wasn't exactly the same. She cast her eyes up toward him, and gasped, falling backward a few steps. "Oh, my God!" she screeched, and fell backward into a display of cans, sending things flying as she fell to the floor, her sunglasses falling off.

"Are you okay?" the young man asked, offering her his hand. Glaring and hissing, she grabbed his hand and yanked him down, pinning him to the floor. "How the hell are you here? How are you _alive…?_"

The man's green eyes widened in shock as Caroline tightened her grip around his neck. "What the hell…?" he wheezed, struggling against her grip.

Caroline frowned at his lack of strength, releasing her grip. "Why can't you fight back?" she hissed.

He sat up and rubbed his throat, frowning at her. "Why would I want to fight you? _Why did you attack me?_"

Caroline frowned. "Who are you?"

The man pushed his sandy blond hair out of his eyes. "I'm Nick," he said, looking startled. "Nick Michaels."

Caroline's eyes widened in shock; because she wasn't just looking at some random guy named Nick Michaels.

_She was looking at the identical human reincarnation of Klaus._


	20. Take an Icy Cold Shower

_**A/N: Please don't hate me for making you all wait so long for this! Seeing as though we all seem to forgive Kevin and Julie for hiatuses, I hope you can forgive me. You see, school has been crazy, and I haven't been feeling the greatest; a.k.a. no time to write at all. *sobs* But, the moment you've all been waiting for is finally here; I UPDATED! Beware of minor smut later on in the chapter… although I don't think any of you really mind. *winks* Enjoy, and please remember to review! Love always, CharliesLostVampire**_

"Okay, you dragged me here; start talking."

Sitting at a table outside the Grill, Caroline looked up from her latté at the unnerving face of Nick Michaels. His pale green eyes were locked on her, a look of annoyed puzzlement glued to his face. Sighing, she began talking. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with why you jumped me," Nick said, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned.

"Well, you look like this guy…"

"What _guy?_" Nick asked in irritation for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. Slowly, as if she said his name he may appear like Beetlejuice, Caroline said, "Klaus. His name was Klaus."

"What could the guy have done that was so awful that everyone in town will want to attack me if they see me?"

"He was evil, Nick," Caroline sighed, "Pure evil."

"I really doubt…"

"He killed people!" Caroline hissed to get her point across. "He wasn't _human!_"

Nick's face paled at her words and he cringed back. "What do you mean _he killed people…_?"

Caroline sighed and shook her head. "You would never believe me if I told you."

Nick frowned. "Why not? Was the guy a serial killer? Because those are very believable…"

Caroline leaned closer; she couldn't see any point in not telling him the truth. He looked identical to Klaus; he would find out sooner than later, anyway. It might as well be her who told him; she would break it to him more easily than anyone else would. She would certainly break it easier to him than, say, Damon, who would likely snap the poor boy's neck upon sight. Leaning even closer so only he could hear, she whispered, "Do you believe in vampires, Nick?"

He frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Caroline frowned. "A lot more than you think; just answer the question."

He sighed. "No, I guess not. All that stuff is stupid and pointless; a waste of time by author's with nothing better to do than scare people."

Caroline sighed; the fact that he was a non-believer would make it even harder to convince him of the truth. "Well, they're more real than you realize, Nick."

Nick scoffed. "What, you're telling me this Klaus guy was a _vampire…_"

"Shhh!" Caroline snapped, looking around at the people who turned their heads toward them at the mention of the "V" word. "Not so loud! The people in this town are really touchy when it comes to vampires…"

Nick looked exasperated. "You're crazy. Look, I don't care who this Klaus guy really is, but you don't have to come up with some sort of crazy lie…!"

"It's not a lie!" Caroline snapped. "They're real…" she chewed her lip nervously, "and they're closer than you think."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm just going to go. I have an apartment full of boxes to unpack." He stood up and started to leave and Caroline frowned, standing and chasing after him. "Wait," she called, "Nick, wait!"

He turned into an ally that lead to his street, ignoring Caroline's footsteps chasing after him. He refused to be made a fool of on his first day in town… he then remembered the display at the grocery store and sighed, deciding he had nothing to lose. "Fine," he snapped, turning to face her. "What do you…?"

He bit back a horrified scream at the sigh before him. For, replacing the sweet girl he had sat across from just seconds ago was the face of a monster, with beady red eyes and sharp fangs. Grinning a bit at his reaction, Caroline asked, "Believe me now?"

. … . … . … . … . … .

As the sun was beginning to set, Damon and Elena made their way up the steps to the boarding house door. Damon fished around in the pocket of his leather jacket for his keys, shifting the bags that were in his arms so he wouldn't drop them. Elena stood beside him, holding Ellie, who was sleeping soundly, against her chest. She smiled at Damon as he opened the door and they headed inside.

"I'm going to go put Ellie to bed," Elena whispered and Damon nodded as he put the bags down on the couch. "Hurry," he said with a smile, "I have a surprise for you."

Elena raised an eyebrow as she smiled curiously at him, "Really?"

He grinned and nodded, "Really."

Elena giggled a bit and nodded. "Okay, I'll hurry; give me five minutes."

Damon nodded as he headed over to the liquor cart to pour himself a drink. Once Elena had gone up the stairs and he heard her busy with Ellie, he sprang into action; lowering the lights and lighting candles all throughout the room while he tossed his jacket over the back of one of the many chairs in the parlor. Pulling the glittering chain out of one of the shopping bags, Damon grinned.

… . … . … . … . … .

"Bon, this is ridiculous," Matt complained as they sat in Bonnie's bedroom. She shot him a glare, looking up from her spell book. "It isn't ridiculous," she hissed, "it's the right thing to do. Babies don't just fall from the sky, Matt! Don't you think it's a bit strange that Ellie seemed to?"

"Of course I do! But I think you should talk to Elena and Damon before you do this."

"I can't, Matt! They would never let me do it. So you need to help me. You're the only one who will, Matt. Caroline hates me; Damon and Elena don't trust me; Alaric would tell!" She drew in a shaky breath. "You're all I have, Matt."

Matt frowned as her brown eyes locked with his blue ones. He hated her eyes. They were impossible to resist, especially when they looked so desperate for aid. "Fine," he sighed. "Tell me what I need to do."

… . … . … . … . …

"Vampires," Nick said in disbelief for the millionth time. "Werewolves… _hybrids?_ What the hell is up with _that?_"

Across the table from him inside the Grill, Caroline shot him a sympathetic and understanding look. "Don't forget witches and doppelgangers."

Nick exclaimed, "Doppelgangers! How could I ever forget? I _am _one. I'm an exact copy of a raving psychopath everyone wanted dead."

"Not exact," Caroline assured him with a soft smile. He met her eyes and sighed. "I suppose I should get the hell out of dodge before someone kills me, huh?"

Caroline cocked her head to the side. "Well, you don't _have _to go."

"The last time I checked, unlike your friends, I'm short a magical ring," he smirked a bit. "So, I think I do. The only reason I moved here in the first place was to find my little sister."

"Little sister?" Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Well, who is she? Maybe I can help."

Nick smiled and shook his head. "Her name is Elizabeth Michaels."

"Elizabeth Michaels…" Caroline repeated, not recognizing the name. Shaking her head, she met his eyes again. "You're sure she lives here?"

Nick grinned a bit. "I'm sure you wouldn't know her, Caroline."

"Why?" Caroline asked.

"Because," Nick said, "Elizabeth is a baby."

… . … . … . … . …

Elena raised an eyebrow as she made her way back down the stairs to find the lights dimmed and candle light flickering on the walls. "What's all this?" she asked, pleasantly surprised as Damon sat on the couch, waiting for her. He grinned, standing up and walking over to her, placing his hands on her waist. "We're finally alone…" he said, and Elena grinned. "Hmmm," she said, placing a hand on his chest. "We are…"

Damon grinned. "I have a surprise for you."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Close your eyes…" he whispered in her ear and she giggled, doing so and waiting. Damon silently reached into the pocket in the back of his jeans, pulling out the shimmering lapis lazuli pendant and walking behind her, placing the necklace around her throat and fastening the clasp.

"Can I open my eyes?" Elena whispered softly in the silence and Damon smiled, his lips close to her ear as he whispered, "Yes…"

Elena's eyes fluttered open and she looked down. Her eyes quickly widened in shock as she touched the glittering blue stone at her throat. "Damon…" she whispered in awe, "It's beautiful."

Damon grinned. "Well, I couldn't spoil one of my princesses and not the other…"

Elena blushed a bit, looking up into his eyes. "Is it lapis lazuli?" Damon grinned and nodded. "I thought it might come in handy, in case someday you… well… you know…"

Damon trailed off, biting his lip, and Elena looked up at him, nodding slowly. "Of course," she whispered, touching his cheek, "Just in case."

He smiled and kissed her forehead gently. "Do you like it?"

She nodded. "I love it." Leaning up, she captured his lips with her own in a soft kiss, knotting her fingers in his hair.

Damon moaned softly against her lips, kissing her with more passion as that increasingly familiar spark was lit between them at the touch of their lips. Turning her so she was facing him in his arms, he held her shoulders and kissed her more hungrily. Shivering, Elena wrapped her arms around his neck, giving a small gasp when she promptly found herself pressed against the wall with Damon's lips hungrily exploring down the column of her throat.

"Damon…" she breathed, her eyes fluttering shut as she shivered with pleasure. He gave a low growl of desire in the back of his throat, pressing her more firmly against the wall as he began popping the buttons on her blouse until they were all undone, sliding it off of her shoulders and kissing lower, across the rise of her breasts. Elena gave a whimper of desire and repeated his name, a bit louder this time. "_Damon_…"

Damon let his eyes slowly rise to hers. "Yes, angel?"

She nearly melted at the husky tone of his voice, and her eyes fluttered shut again. "Take me, baby… _do your worst._"

It was mere seconds before Damon's lips came crashing hungrily down on her own and their hands frantically went to work; popping buttons, unzipping zippers, unhooking clasps…

In a record time of twenty-three seconds, there was a pile of clothes on the floor, the creaking of springs on the couch, a shrill gasp, husky moan, and all hope of turning back was lost.

… . … . … . … . …

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Matt mumbled to himself as he crept up around the back of the boarding house. He was beginning to think Bonnie had only asked for his help because of his athletic skills; he was being forced to scale the house and climb in Ellie's window instead of using the door.

Mumbling a few choice words under his breath, Matt slowly climbed up the ivy coating the back of the house, sliding open Ellie's window and creeping into the room. It was dark, lit only by a small nightlight plugged into the wall across the room.

Slowly he made his way over to the crib where Ellie lay, sleeping soundly with her tiny fist curled around a soft, fluffy white blanket. He peered down at her, deep in thought…

"_Oh, God Damon!_"

Matt nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden screamed phrase, breaking the silence that his ears had become accustomed to. It was three in the morning; Bonnie had assured him Damon and Elena would both be sound asleep when he snuck in to get some of Ellie's hair for her spell. Yet, sounding like it was coming from downstairs, was the unmistakable sound of moaning and screaming.

Matt nearly vomited. As he stood there, helpless, he was listening in on _Damon screwing Elena. _They certainly weren't trying to be quiet about it, either. Clearly, the recent events had kept them fairly abstinent.

"_Yes! Yes, Damon, yes! Oh, God yes…! More…!_"

Quickly pulling a tiny pair of bathroom scissors from his jacket pocket, Matt leaned into the crib and snipped off a lock of Ellie's wispy blonde hair. She shifted in her sleep and Matt froze, terrified she may wake and start screaming, giving him away.

But, she continued to sleep soundly as though nothing had happened.

Downstairs, Elena gave a long, husky, satisfied groan that made Matt grind his teeth with sudden desire. God, it sounded sexy…

He mentally slapped himself. What the hell was he doing? Was he really becoming so desperate that he was indulging in listening to Elena moan while Damon pounded into her downstairs? Blushing scarlet, he headed to the window, just as Elena moaned out, "_Harder, baby; go__** harder**__..._"

Ducking out the window, and quickly scaling the wall, Matt made a B-line for his truck down the road. Bonnie owed him; _big time._

… . … . … . … . …

"So, you're telling me my baby sister is being raised by a vampire?"

Caroline, still slightly shocked that she had found a connection to Ellie, nodded as she sat with Nick in his half unpacked living room. She had nearly choked on her third cup of coffee that evening when he said his little sister was a _baby _named _Elizabeth. _What were the odds?

"She was left on Damon's doorstep a few weeks ago. He and Elena have been taking care of her ever since."

Nick was frowning. "It makes no sense," he mumbled. "My parents were flakey, but they would never just leave her like that…"

"Why did you come here for her?" Caroline asked quietly. Nick frowned. "I came because my mother called me, telling me that they were staying with friends here, in Mystic Falls, and they wanted me to spend a few months here with Elizabeth."

"But then… why would they leave her on Damon's doorstep during a hurricane, saying they couldn't take care of her? Especially if they were staying with friends…"

Nick rubbed his temples. "From what you've told me, this town is screwed up. Who knows?" He sighed and shut his eyes, leaning his head against the wall behind them.

"Hey," Caroline said softly, touching his arm. He looked at her and she smiled. "Look on the bright side; you know where she is!"

"But your friends won't let me near her. They'll think I'm him."

Caroline frowned. "I'll talk to them, Nick," she took his hand and smiled. "I promise."

… . … . … . … . …

"Oh, my God…"

Elena desperately tried to catch her breath as she lay, exhausted, on Damon's chest. "That was heaven…" she breathed.

Damon grinned as he panted, running his hand through her damp hair. "It was…" he agreed, and Elena smiled. "Was I okay?" she asked, looking up at him. He grinned and nodded as he rubbed her back beneath their blanket on the couch. "You were amazing…"

She grinned in satisfaction and burrowed deeper into his chest. "Promise we'll never wait that long ever again?"

Damon chuckled, "Oh, I promise."

Sighing heavily as a thought occurred to her, Elena began to shift to get up. "We should go check on Ellie…"

Damon pouted and tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer. "Do we have to move right away?"

Elena looked at him for a moment, and then she sighed. "Okay, ten more minutes. But then we need to go check on her!"

Elena frowned. "Thirty minutes."

"_An hour…_" Damon said in a sing songy, uncompromising voice.

"Forty minutes?" Elena tried.

"An _hour,_" Damon said, refusing to budge.

"Fine," Elena said, slightly irritated, but slightly pleased at the same time, "An hour. But that's it!"

"Two hours."

"_Damon!_"

"Okay, okay!"

… . … . … . … . …

Bonnie looked up from her spell book when she heard Matt enter her room again. "Did you get the hair?" she asked.

Silently, Matt passed it to her and left the room again.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie called with a frown.

"To take a cold shower," Matt mumbled.

"Why?" Bonnie asked, furrowing her brow.

"_Elena and Damon._"

Bonnie frowned for a moment longer before gasping as realization dawned on her, "Oh, my gosh…!"

The bathroom door slammed shut and Bonnie cringed and went to work on the spell. Placing Ellie's fine baby hair in a small bowl, she lit a match and took a deep breath; she only had one chance to get this spell right. Once the hair was burning, there was no turning back. Blowing out her breath, Bonnie dropped the match in the bowl and began chanting the incantation she had memorized.

"_Puer__capillos__ignis__unitatis__videre__velim__proferre__duo vultus__. __Parentis__puer__qui__manere__innominatum__, __ostende te__, __palus__tua__clamore__! __Caput__puer__...__!_"

Bonnie gasped when a cold gush of air blew at her, putting out the fire. Names were suddenly being chanted in her ears, along with words that mashed together incoherently. "_Nick! Nick! Elizabeth! Nick! Nick! Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Nick!_"

Bonnie shuddered, unable to contain whatever entities were screaming at her. Suddenly, new names were called, but only once. "_Joanne! Jacob! Elizabeth! Nick! Nick! Nick Nick!_"

All at once, a single sentence made sense.

"_Give Elizabeth to Nick!_"

A powerful gust of wind punched Bonnie in the stomach and she cried out. Suddenly, it all stopped.

Matt, a towel around his waist, ran into the room when he heard Bonnie scream, turning the light on. "Bonnie!" he cried when he saw her, hunched over on her bed. He ran to her side and helped her sit up. "Bon! Hey, Bonnie! What happened?"

"The spell," she moaned. "I was doing the spell… then there was wind… and names. Nick and Elizabeth… and Joanne and Jacob."

She met Matt's eyes, looking terrified. "They were ghosts, Matt… they hit me… they said to give Elizabeth to Nick."

Gulping, she whispered, "Matt… Ellie's parents are dead."


	21. Nick and Elizabeth Michaels

Far too early the next morning, Elena was drawn out of peaceful slumber by the sound of her cellphone ringing. Groaning, she nuzzled closer into Damon's chest in attempt to drown out the noise. When it persisted she sat up in irritation, answering it before it woke Damon, too.

"What?" she snapped, glancing at the clock; it was only 7:30!

"_Elena? Are you okay? You sound upset…_"

"It's barely past sunrise, Bonnie," Elena hissed quietly into the phone. "Did you expect me to be happy that you woke me up?"

"_Oh… sorry. Look, Matt and I need to talk to you. Damon, too; it's about Ellie._"

Elena clutched the phone tighter. "What do you mean, it's about Ellie? Ellie is asleep in the other room…"

Elena trailed off, worry nagging at the back of her mind. What if Ellie wasn't sleeping safely? She and Damon hadn't exactly been focusing all their attention on her last night, and it wasn't like all the dangers of Mystic Falls were gone…

"_Well, it's not about Ellie in specific… it's about her parents. Her real parents, Elena. The thing is… they're dead._"

Elena's brows furrowed with confusion; how could Bonnie possibly know that? "What do you mean, they're dead?"

"_Look… can we just come over? I have something to confess, and you and Damon won't like it, but it's going to help us all in the long run. Okay?_"

Elena sighed, "Fine. But if you're going to be here, you're going to be nice to Damon. It's ridiculous for you to be so cold toward him; you know he wouldn't have really killed you."

There was a pause on the other line before Bonnie finally quietly responded with, "_Fine,_" and hung up. Elena shook her head, hanging up, too, and putting her phone back on the bedside table. Grinning, she looked back down at Damon, who was somehow still soundly sleeping.

"Wake up, Sleeping Sexy," she purred, moving to straddle his waist and grip his shoulders, bending down to place slow kisses along his throat. Damon stirred at the shift in weight above him, opening his eyes. A slow smirk began to creep to his features as he trailed his fingers down Elena's spine, her body covered only by the black John Varvatos button down he had worn the night before.

"Mmm… I'm awake now…"

Elena giggled and moved to lie on his chest, bending down to kiss his lips. Immediately, Damon wove his fingers into her hair, holding her in place as he kissed her deeply, hungrily. Flipping her beneath him so he was positioned between her legs, he smirked. "Hmm… nothing gets the blood pumping first thing in the morning like a quick round of wake up sex…"

Elena bit her lip, her eyes blazing with desire, but she shook her head. "As much as I would _love _to; we can't. Bonnie and Matt will be here any minute. She just called me…"

Damon frowned, still gripping her knees. "What? Why?"

Elena shrugged. "I have no idea. She said it had something to do with Ellie's parents. She was yammering on about them being dead…"

Damon scoffed with irritation, releasing her and sitting up on his own. "How in hell would she know if Ellie's parents are dead?"

Elena shook her head, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him. "I don't know, but she said we won't like what she has to _confess _to us."

Damon's eyes narrowed. "What did the stupid little witch do this time?"

She sighed. "I told you; I have no idea. I guess we'll just need to get dressed and find out."

Practically sulking, Damon heaved a heavy sigh and climbed out of bed, walking over to his wardrobe. Elena grinned, licking her lips, and couldn't help the giggle that passed through her lips at the sight of Damon Salvatore walking around his bedroom, completely naked. Turning his head as he opened the wardrobe doors, he smirked.

"What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "Oh, nothing…"

Climbing out of bed herself, she made her way over to the dresser where she kept all of the clothes she had brought here, opening the top drawer and grabbing a clean pair of panties and a bra. She was entirely oblivious to Damon's eyes watching her every move, and he gave a low growl of desire at the sight of the lacy red bra and panties he knew all too well these days. Blurring over to her, he took her by surprise and shoved her into the wall, making her gasp.

"Fuck Bonnie and Matt," he growled, hungrily capturing her lips in his own, grinding his body against her own. Elena groaned, unable to resist him any longer, and knotted her fingers in his hair, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist. Damon bit her lip and tugged on it, causing her to groan more loudly. Releasing her lip, he gazed at her with smoldering, dark blue eyes.

"I'm taking you, right here, right now, against this wall. Bonnie and Matt will just have to wait patiently downstairs until we're done. Got it?"

She bit her lip, her own eyes nearly black with lust as she nodded. "Got it," she practically purred. Damon smirked and shoved roughly into her, relishing in the delicious cry and scream of his name that burst from her lips.

… . … . … . … . …

Caroline stirred from a very comfortable slumber, being woken by bright sunlight filtering into the room. It took her a few moments to process in confusion that it was coming from the opposite side it normally did. Her blue eyes fluttering open, she gazed around the room. It was dingy, empty, and piled high with boxes.

She frowned, and screamed with fright when what she had assumed to be a bed shifted beneath her, sending her rolling face first onto the dusty, wooden, unfurnished floorboards. There was a gasp from what she now realized was a couch, and she screamed at the face that was looking down at her seconds later.

"Caroline! Oh, my God, I am so sorry…!"

She gasped in a breath as the memories from yesterday returned to her, and she slumped back against the couch. "Jesus, Nick! You scared me!"

He blushed as he sat up, running a hand through his dirty blond hair. "Sorry," he repeated, offering her his hand. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She took his hand, still attempting to catch her breath as she let him help her back up onto the couch. "It's okay… I guess I just forgot where I was for a minute."

He bit his lip. "Because I look like him?"

She noticed the slightly pained expression on his face, and knew that he thought she meant he had scared her because she had thought he was Klaus. "Oh, Nick, that isn't what I meant…"

He shook his head, giving her a weak smile. "Don't worry about it. I guess I should get used to people screaming and running from me since I look like a mass murdering psycho."

"Nick," she said softly, a pang of guilt running through her. "That isn't true. People just need to get to know you. You aren't anything like Klaus was."

He gave a small sigh. "People won't give me a chance, Caroline. If they think I'm him, whom they obviously will, no one will even come within two meters of me. Unless, of course, they're trying to kill me," he said, giving a small smirk. "Maybe I should seriously consider plastic surgery."

Caroline laughed and reached over to hug him. "Don't be silly. We'll go talk to Damon and Elena today. Once they realize the truth, they'll try to help you, too." She smiled at him, but her expression was serious. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Nick. Don't worry, okay?"

He smiled, a genuine smile, and nodded. "I know. Thank you, Caroline."

She smiled and nodded. "Of course. Hey; do you have anything for breakfast here? I'm starving…"

"Starving?" Nick asked, going a bit pale. Caroline looked back at him, and she laughed.

"Oh!" she giggled. "Not for blood, silly; for food!"

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay… uh… do you like Froot Loops?"

… . … . … . … . …

"You can't tell them it was me, Bon!" Matt hissed as he drove them toward the boarding house in his truck. "I need them to trust me. I did this to help you; not to make them hate me!"

Bonnie sighed. "Lying is dishonest, Matt…"

"And sneaking into a baby's bedroom while he parents have sex downstairs isn't?"

Shooting him an irritated stare, Bonnie sighed. "Fine. I just won't tell them how the spell worked. I tell them I found a way to contact her parents, and found out they were dead when their ghosts started bombarding me with crazy yelling."

Matt nodded. "Good. The least they know I was involved, the better."

Rolling her eyes, Bonnie unbuckled her seat belt as Matt pulled into the driveway, and jumped out when he came to a stop.

"Bonnie, wait up!" Matt called in slight irritation as he unbuckled and jumped out, shutting his door and chasing after her. He sucked in a sharp breath when she just tossed the front door open and stormed in; after last night, he had no idea what Damon and Elena could be doing in there. "Bonnie…!" he hissed in protest, chasing after her.

But, as apposed to screams and cries of erotic pleasure, they were greeted by the happy giggles of Ellie, and the smell of fresh coffee.

"Hey, guys," Elena said with a smile from the couch, where she was dressed in a light blue blouse and jeans, Ellie bouncing on her lap, and a cup of coffee in her hand. Walking in slowly, Bonnie frowned.

"Where's Damon?"

"Oh; he's up in the shower," Elena said, and Bonnie noted Elena's still rather mussed hair; God, did those two ever stop screwing each other these days?

"Mind if I grab a cup of that?" Matt asked, pointing out the coffee in Elena's hand. "I'm exhausted."

Elena frowned in confusion. "Why are you so tired today? It's a Saturday."

Matt tried not to blush. "I was… uh… busy last night."

Elena nodded, trying to process the possibilities. "Go ahead; it's on the counter in the kitchen."

"Thanks," Matt said, quickly ducking out of the room.

"What's up with him?" Elena asked as Bonnie sat down in a chair across from her.

Bonnie looked at her, seeming nearly as nervous as Matt. "Uh… nothing. Why?"

Slowly, a grin began to spread across Elena's face. "Bonnie Bennett; are you and Matt Donovan…" she leaned closer, smirking. "Finally sleeping together?"

Bonnie's eyes widened. "What? _No! _Why would you think that?"

Elena seemed disappointed with this answer and sat back, Ellie giggling and snuggling into her chest, still dressed in her pink footie pajamas. "Oh. Well, I just thought… you two were together last night, and he's tired this morning…"

"Don't jump to conclusions like that, Elena," Bonnie snapped, flushing.

Elena frowned. "Sorry…"

Both girls looked up at the sound of footsteps on the stairs; Damon was making his way down, dressed in a black t-shirt and matching dark jeans, running a hand through his wet, messy black hair. He blinked when he noticed Bonnie sitting across from Elena, looking annoyed

"Is… everything okay?" he asked cautiously as he made his way across the room. Ellie shifted in Elena's arms at the sound of his voice, reaching out toward him, clenching and unclenching her tiny fists. Grinning, he carefully picked her up, kissing her tiny nose. "Hey, baby," he cooed to her, and she giggled.

Bonnie frowned. "No, everything isn't okay. Matt!" she yelled, irritated with how long he was taking. "Get out here!"

Slowly, Matt walked out of the kitchen, keeping his eyes down, focused on his coffee. There was no way he could face Damon or Elena, especially together. He had been an idiot for thinking he could. Not after last night, when he had vividly heard what they were doing…

_Oh, Damon…!_

Flushing, he took a seat and sipped at his coffee. Bonnie glanced at him before shaking her head, turning back to Damon and Elena.

"Did Elena tell you what I told her this morning?" Bonnie asked, and Damon nodded with a snort.

"Yeah; about Ellie's parents being dead?" he rolled his eyes as he sat beside Elena, muttering, "Bull shit…"

"Damon!" Elena hissed, swatting his arm. "Don't swear around Ellie!"

Blushing faintly, Damon bit his lip. "Uh… right. Sorry…"

Bonnie's eyes narrowed at him. "Yes, about Ellie's parents being dead; they are, and I have proof."

Damon snorted. "_Sure you do…_"

"Will you shut up?" Bonnie snapped at him, and he glared.

"Maybe I don't feel like listening to your ridiculous lies? Hmm? This is probably just some kind of scheme to convince us to get rid of Ellie!"

"Don't be such an idiot, Damon! I'm being serious!"

"No, you aren't! You're being a stupid little… ahh….!"

Elena's eyes widened as Damon's face contorted in agony, and she shot Bonnie a glare. "Bonnie, stop it! _Now!_"

Glaring, Bonnie looked away from Damon. "He deserved it…" she grumbled.

"_Bitch…_" Damon hissed.

Rolling her eyes, Elena took Ellie from Damon. "What did I _just _say…?"

"She deserved it!" Damon spat in annoyance, and Elena sighed.

"Just tell us what you came here for, Bonnie. We don't have all day."

Frowning, Bonnie continued. "I know that Ellie's parents are dead, because I contacted them last night, from the other side. They talked to me, Elena, and they sounded mad. _Really _mad."

Elena frowned. "Well, what did they say?"

Damon opened his mouth to say something, most likely something witty that would result in another mini aneurism, and Elena swatted him again.

"Hey!" he snapped, and she glared.

"Keep your mouth shut," she hissed through clenched teeth, and he slumped back against the couch, glaring at Bonnie.

Bonnie rolled her eyes before pressing on. "They kept saying to give Elizabeth to Nick. Over and over, really loudly. They also said Joanna and Jacob; their names, I'm assuming. As for Nick, I have no idea who that could be. Either way, they're pissed that you have Ellie."

Elena's eyes widened. "Why would they be angry? Someone left her for us! It isn't like we _took _her!"

"They don't see it that way," Bonnie said simply, and Elena felt herself pale. This was just their luck; as soon as they got rid of one problem that posed a danger to them, another arose.

"What do we do?" she whispered, and Bonnie shrugged.

"We find this Nick guy, for starters…"

"And what?" Damon snapped. "There's no way in hell I'm giving her to him!"

Elena sighed and laid her head on his shoulder in an attempt to relax him and calm her own nerves. "Of course we won't…" she whispered, feeling tears forming in her eyes. Ellie looked up at her with her big, light blue eyes and seemed confused about why she and Damon were so upset. Snuggling closer into Elena's chest, she gave a tiny baby sigh.

Matt looked at all of them and frowned. "If we aren't giving Ellie back to this Nick guy, what are we going to do? What if he comes looking for her?"

"Over my dead body anyone will take her…" Damon hissed.

Elena sniffled and blinked away her tears. "We need a plan… a new plan. Maybe we should just get out of town…"

"Running can't always be the option, Elena," Bonnie said, repressing the urge to say that things wouldn't be so difficult if they would just get rid of Ellie. Hell; school was scheduled to start back up again on Wednesday. What did she plan on doing then?

Elena sniffled again, more tears falling. "I know… but I just can't do this right now. Not again…"

Damon pulled Elena into his arms and stroked her hair as she cried into his chest. "No one will take her from you, okay?" he whispered quietly to her. "Everything is going to be okay…"

He shot Bonnie a glare. "Do you see what you did? Now she's going to be worried sick night and day. She doesn't need this, Bonnie!"

"I know she doesn't!" Bonnie yelled. "That's why she doesn't need that baby, and she sure as hell doesn't need you! Both of you are only ruining her life!"

Damon snarled. "Get out. _Get out!_"

In Elena's arms, Ellie started to wail with fear at the sound of everyone so upset and angry. She quivered and clung to Elena's shirt, and Elena held her tightly. "Both of you stop it!" she sobbed. "You're scaring Ellie!"

Damon clamped his mouth shut at her words, looking down at the two hysterical girls beside him. At that exact moment, the front door flew open.

"Guys, I have someone for you… to…" Caroline, who had been bubbly with excitement, trailed off as her eyes widened at the horrible scene before her. "What's going on?"

"I talked to Ellie's parents last night," Bonnie snapped. "Her _dead _parents. Apparently, they want Ellie to be given to some guy named Nick."

Caroline's eyes grew wider. "Oh, my God…"

"What?" Damon snapped. "What _now?_"

"I… um…" Caroline looked between all of their faces, and shifted awkwardly. "I have someone I want you all to meet…" she said quietly.

"Is this really the time, Caroline?" Matt asked, desperation clear in his voice.

She looked horribly conflicted. "Well… yes, actually, given the circumstances. But, you all need to know, that it isn't what it looks like. You're all going to want to freak out when you see him, but just… don't. Give me time to explain, okay?"

Damon was still ticked off. "No promises," he snarled.

"You especially!" she snapped and he glared.

"Everyone," Caroline said with a nervous sigh. "I want you to meet Nick Michaels. Nick!"

Outside, Nick took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and heading inside to stand beside, and slightly behind, Caroline. The gasp from the group in the parlor was audible.

Damon was snarling. Elena was on the verge of screaming. Bonnie looked ready to go into full witchy migraine spree, and Matt just looked stunned.

"What in hell is he doing here? How is he _alive?_" Damon growled.

"It's not what you think!" Caroline cried nervously. "He isn't Klaus! He's human!"

Damon's growls continued, but Bonnie frowned in consideration. "She's right…" she mumbled. "His aura… it's not tainted with darkness like Klaus's was. He's… human."

Damon stood up, leaving Elena to cower on the couch, and stormed over. Grabbing Nick by the neck, he pinned him to the wall. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled, and Caroline gasped.

"Damon!" she cried. "Let him go, he can't breathe!"

"Nick…!" Nick wheezed, struggling to break free. "My name is Nick….!"

"Damon," Elena whispered, afraid he may actually kill him. "Damon, stop!"

Glancing over at her, he felt his senses return, and he released Nick's neck, watching him slump to the floor.

"Nick? As in the Nick that wants to take my daughter away?"

"Your daughter…?" Nick asked hoarsely, rubbing his neck. "I don't understand…"

"_Ellie,_" Damon snarled, and Nick's eyes widened as he turned to Caroline.

"You told me he'd be reasonable!"

"Reasonable?" Damon laughed with no humor. "I think she must have been talking about somebody else, _Nick. _But let's get one thing straight, right now. There is no way in hell you're taking Ellie away from here. Over my dead body you'll take her…"

Nick groaned. "I just want to know why you have her. My parents told me they were staying her with friends, and that I was supposed to come and meet them. Now, I found out she's been living with you, and my parents are…"

"Dead," Bonnie mumbled. "Your parents are dead."

"What?" Nick whispered in shock, and Caroline's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about, Bonnie?" she cried.

"Their ghosts came to me last night. They're both dead."

"How do you know?" Nick asked.

"Were their names Joanna and Jacob?"

"Yeah…"

"They're dead."

Nick sat, stunned, and stared at the wall across from him. "How… how did they…?"

"I don't know," Bonnie answered him simply with a shrug, and Caroline glared at her.

"Well, we need to find out!" she snapped and, at that moment, every single person in that room knew Caroline was right.

They needed to find out how Nick and Elizabeth Michaels' parents were killed, and how Ellie had ended up on Damon Salvatore's doorstep that very night.


End file.
